


You Don't Have To Be Blood To be Family

by LauWho



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: AU, Adolescent, Alternative Universe - No Island, F/M, Felicity is a Merlyn, Fluff, Growing, Kids, Malcolm sucks, Moira rules, Tommy is love, kind of, olicity - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-12
Updated: 2018-05-08
Packaged: 2018-06-01 22:34:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 41,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6539179
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LauWho/pseuds/LauWho
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Darling, I know you are very fond of her, but this is crazy”<br/>“She needs us to do this"<br/>“We can help her find another...”<br/>“No! that’s not what I want, it’s not what she needs!"</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! here I am with yet another story, this one is like my baby, I've been thinking of writing it for a while and finally I decided to do it. It will be a long proyect, I will try to update once or twice a month at least, but for now, here is the prologue. Thanks for reading!!

 

“I want to do it”

“You can’t pick up every charity case that ends up in front of your doorstep!”

“This isn’t a charity case! It’s not like that!”

“I just don’t think you are thinking straight”

"we can't do nothing!!"

“There’s a big step between doing nothing and doing that!”

“But this is what my heart is asking me to do”

“Darling, I know you are very fond of her, but this is crazy”

“She needs us to do this”

“We can help her find another...”

“No! that’s not what I want, it’s not what she needs!”

“Think about our son”

“I am thinking about him, he’ll be so happy! It will be great for him”

“I’m just not sure”

“She’s so pure dear, so innocent, and when you look into her eyes.. there is too much sadness in them. She’s just a baby and she had been through so much already… She deserves to be happy, not to be alone. I can’t leave her”

“Okay, we’ll do it”

“Thank you, you won’t regret it”


	2. April, 1991

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tommy has some big news and he's eager to tell his best friend

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Wow, first I want to say thank you! the response to that epilogue was amazing, all those comments and kudos.. you guys are great!! I already have about the half of the second chapter but I probably won't update till May, cause I have to write 'Larger than life? too so It'll be a few days before I can publish. I hope you like this first chapter . Thanks!! Love you all!!

“Hey Tommy!” Oliver said to his best friend as he opened the door to his room and entered. Tommy Merlin was smiling widely, showing off clearly the empty space left by the tooth that had fallen last week.

He was used to Tommy going into his room at any time of the day, the boys had been friends since any of them could remember; their parents were friends and Tommy being only three months older than Oliver –fact that he loved to remind him- they had become friends since the beginning. To add to that, four years ago, when the boys were only two, the Merlyn family had moved to a mansion that was only a five minutes’ walk from the Queen manor, so they became fairly inseparable, they even went to the same school and the same class, much to their teachers chagrin

“Hey!” Tommy jumped in Oliver’s bed, making all the toys he had in it, basically surrounding him made a little jump “I have big news!” exclaimed the 6 year old

“Yeah? What is it?” Oliver left the comic he had in his hand and looked at Tommy

“My mom said I’m going to have a sister!” Tommy seemed excited by the news

“Wow! Your mommy is going to have a baby like Thea?” he asked thinking about his baby little sister, Thea, that was born only one month ago and remembering how he saw the changes in his mom’s body. He thought it could be cool to see the same on Tommy’s mom

“No” Tommy said “mom said this girl is already born, but she said the this way is better because I can plan with her sooner and I will be funnier”

Oliver furrowed, he didn’t really understand, his daddy had told him that Thea was his sister because they both came from his mom’s belly…

“But then, how is she going to be your sister?” he confessed his doubts and Tommy’s smile faded

“I don’t know” he said

“Why don’t we ask your mom?” Oliver proposed and with a nod of his head both boys went running through the halls and down the stairs until they arrived to the living room, where their moms were talking.

When they entered Moira was sitting on the couch with little Thea in her arms and Rebecca was sitting next to her

“Mommy, we have a question” Tommy said, very seriously, but in a low voice knowing that they shouldn’t talk loud when the baby was near, which they had learned the hard way two weeks earlier, when they woke up the baby and received an scolding from their dads.

“What is it honey?” Rebecca asked her little boy, she knew that what they had told him earlier, the boys were bound to have questions

“How am I going to have a sister if she isn’t in your belly as Thea was in hers?” he asked, pointing to Moira and the baby. The two women looked at each other and smiled, and then looked at their sons. Rebecca signaled tommy and Oliver to sit by her sides

“Do you remember when you said you wanted to be Oliver’s brother?” The kid nodded “why did you say that?”

“Because he is my best friend and I love him and you said that we love family” Rebecca smiled, she loved the fact that her son was always so caring

“Well, this little girl doesn’t have a family, so we are going to be hers, and if you love her, I promise you, she will be your sister” both boys opened their mouths in an ‘oh’ expression

“She doesn’t have a mommy?” Oliver asked his sad eyes looking at his mom

“No Oliver, she doesn’t,” Moira explained caressing her little boy’s face. “That’s why Rebecca is going to be her mom now”

“And can I love her too?” he turned his question to his friend’s mom

“Of course!” she answered “she will need all the love we can give her, and I’m sure she’d like to have another brother that can take care of her”

Oliver and Tommy smiled widely and Oliver looked at his best friend

“Come! I have an idea”

They went running up the stairs back to Oliver’s room

“We can give her a present!” Oliver said “for when she arrives!”

“Great idea…but what can we give her?”

“Mm I don’t know, let’s see” Then both kids started pulling out all the toys that Oliver had but, as you would expect, there was nothing suitable for a little girl. Half an hour later, they were sitting on the floor surrounded by toys but still needing something for Tommy’s new little sister.

“What do baby girls like?” Tommy asked

“Thea likes stuffed animals and her rattle, but you said she’s not as little as Thea”

“Right” Tommy scratched his head, thinking, searching for something that they could get for her

“Dolls! All girls love dolls right?” Oliver exclaimed after a while

“Maybe a rag doll? Because baby’s toys can’t have little pieces or hard parts”

“Yeah” Oliver nodded, but then his smile faded a little “How are we going to get a doll”

“We could ask our dads” Tommy said

!yeah, but it would be cool if we could surprise them too”

“We could ask Raisa!” Tommy suggested “that way we will surprise them too!”

To the boys delight Raisa agreed to take them to the toy store the next day after school instead of taking them to the park where they went almost every day, and also accepted to keep the secret that the boys wanted to buy a present for the new little miss Merlyn.

The Russian woman would never admit it but she was pretty moved by the boys when they told her they wanted to surprise the girl, to show her that she had a family now.

-  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -

Oliver and Tommy weren’t paying attention to class, -not that it was something weird for them- they were talking about what they would buy and looking at the clock that was above the chalkboard.

They were impatient, waiting for the sound that marked the end of class and the time to go home, or in this case, to the mall, to get the presents.

The night before, after talking to Raisa, the boys had gone to Oliver’s room again, and started thinking about what the doll should look like.

Oliver hadn’t been nervous about it that morning, after all it wasn’t his sister and although he wanted to help his friend find the perfect doll, he hadn’t been nervous. That was until Tommy had looked at him, with all the seriousness he could mustered and said.

“Remember what my mom said? She said she needs all the brothers she can get!” his friend had reminded him

“But I already have a sister!” 

“Who said you can’t have two?” Tommy reasoned “I know! I can be Thea’s brother too, that way we both have two sisters, one we live with and one we don’t” Oliver thought that wasn’t a bad idea.

“But then we’ll have to buy two presents... Right?”

“Yeah” that’s cool! You’ll have to teach me how to be a good big brother”

“Daddy said to me when Thea was born that I only had to love her and protect her”

“That should be easy... I think”

So now the boys were really nervous, their sisters needed to have great gifts. They had decided that the doll for Tommy’s new sister –they didn’t know the name yet- and a stuffed animal for Thea would be a good choice

That morning they had both broken their piggy banks and took all their savings, -that weren’t much if you consider they were six and five years old - to buy the presents

When the bell rang the boys jumped out of their seats and taking their bags had run out to meet with Raisa that was waiting them in front of the school.

“Are you ready little misters?” Raisa greeted them, and they both nodded.

The mall was only a short walk away from the school so they arrived there early enough and went directly to the biggest toy store they could find.

Raisa was a patient woman, she had grown up in Russia, helping her mother to raise her five little brothers, so she was a very patient woman, but for the life of her, after what felt like hours and thousands of dolls, she was getting impatient. Oliver and his friend had been searching for the perfect doll for almost an hour of ‘that one is too small’ and ‘this one’s ugly’. She had tried to help them, as well as two of the toy store employees, but they wanted to pick the toys themselves.  Thea’s stuffed animal had been pretty easy, they had found a cute white rabbit with big ears that they loved, but the doll was proving to be a hard voice.

Finally, Little Oliver yelled with excitement

“I found it” in his hands there was a little rag doll, it had blonde hair and a pretty pink dress, and its eyes were blue and had a bow on her head.

“Why that one?” asked tommy, but Oliver shrugged

“I don’t know, I like her, she’s pretty” After taking the doll in his hands to examine her Tommy nodded

“Okay”

The next few days, as Tommy told his friend, were a chaos in the Merlyn manor, his parents were busy with paper work and there were always someone – lawyers his mom had said- in the house, everything to bring his new sister home.

Fortunately the boys had asked Raisa to keep the toys so they kept the secret until they could give them to their sisters; they had also decided that Tommy would give Thea her stuffed animal and Oliver the doll to the toddler, but they would do it at the same time.

When Saturday came Rebceca asked her son if he wanted to help her decorate his new sister room, Tommy was eager to help her, so they went to the store together and picked up all the furniture and this they though she would need.  

By Sunday, when the room was finished, it had a large crib almost as big as a bed but with bars so she wouldn’t fall off, there also was a big closet full with clothes of all the colors of the rainbow, and a trunk with stuffed animals and learning toys.

The walls were painted in a soft purple and had stickers of the Disney princesses and Tommy has picked up starts that shone in the dark to stick in the ceiling; ‘just in case she is afraid of the darkness’ he had explained. The room was beautiful.

“Mom, when will my new sister arrive?”

“Well, if all goes as we want, she will be here in a few days”

“But that’s a lot!” he said, the sadness evident in his voice

“I know, but it isn’t easy to become someone family, there’s a lot of papers and things that we have to do”

“Why?” he asked, furrowing

“Well, they have to make sure that she will have a nice family and that we are appropriate for her” Tommy really didn’t understand what his mom was telling him, and it was written all over his face “don’t worry Tommy, she will be with us before you even notice”

-  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -

It was Wednesday, the Merlyns had asked Raisa that, after she picked up the boys and take them to the park, took them both to the Queen mansion until they could came back- usually after the park she would left tommy in his own house-.

Thanks to their money and position, the adoption papers had come through early, so they were going to bring home their little daughter tonight, but they didn’t want to tell tommy, Rebecca wanted it to be a surprise for her son.

But tommy wasn’t a fool, and as soon as Raisa said they would all be going to the Queen’s, he asked

“They’re bringing her home right?” Raisa just smiled as she shook her head, that boy was too smart for his own good sometimes.

That afternoon Tommy was playing with Oliver at something that they had invented that involved Iron Man, Superman and a lot of toy soldiers, when they heard the bell. Both kids ran to the door, beating Raisa to open it, closely followed by Moira and Robert, the former carrying little Thea in her arms.

When tommy opened the door the first one they saw was his father, Malcolm and seconds after he lead the way to his wife, who came in with a toddler in her arms.

The girl was giggling, and it made the boys smile, she was blonde with bright blue eyes and a big smile. Rebecca crouched in front of her son the girl bouncing on her leg

“Tommy, I want you to meet Felicity”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the stuffed bunny http://i1378.photobucket.com/albums/ah119/LauQueen/peluche_zpsshsogz24.jpg  
> And the doll http://i1378.photobucket.com/albums/ah119/LauQueen/muntildeeca_zpsfqolqsg3.jpg
> 
> You can follow me on tumblr, 2manyfandomsfor1url


	3. Somebody to love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys meet Felicity and their world changes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so so so sorry that it took so long to update, if you follow my other story 'larger than life' you know that I had a car accident and my ankle took the worst of it, again, so I've been resting it, again... so I couldn't get to my computer. I'm sorry. I promise I intend to write this sory, and to update sooner next time. Thank you so much for all the comments and kudos that this story has, it's been overwhelming! thank you. without more delay, here you have the next chapter, Hope you like it!!

 

After Rebecca presented Felicity, Tommy and Oliver didn’t say anything for a while; they just stood there, looking at her while the little girl made grabby hands at them with a smile on her face.

It was Tommy who reacted first, he took another step towards his mom and the baby and when he was closer, he took Felicity’s hand in his

“Hello Felicity” he said “I’m Tommy, and I’m your big brother”

“Omy” she squeezed his finger with her little hand and smiled at him

“You heard that?” he exclaimed “she said my name!” he turned to his family, excited “she said Tommy!”  

“Of course she did” his mother said, with a big smile “you are her brother”

 “Hey Tommy!” Oliver whispered to him, as he tugged his sleeve “let’s go, we have to go get that!”

“Oh yeah!! I almost forgot!” Raisa come on!” they each took on of Raisa’s hands and dragged her across the parlor to the kitchen where they knew she kept the presents they had bought

Two minutes later they came back running where their parents and sisters were still waiting, expectant. Tommy stood in front of Moira and Oliver in front of Rebecca, both with their hands at their backs. The kids looked at each other and with a nod of their heads and a smile they both showed them their presents for the little girls. Funnily enough the doll that they had picked out for Felicity looked a lot like her new owner, which was fitting.

As soon as the girls saw the toys they went crazy, Thea was still too little to pick the rabbit up, but she seemed to like touching its big fluffy ears. Felicity was another story; she grabbed the doll with her little hands and hugged her to her chest giggling

“Oh boys, they’re beautiful!” Rebecca said, smiling “and look at them “they love their new toys!”

“They are our gifts to our sisters” Oliver said to Tommy’s mom

“Why did you swap sisters?” Robert asked his son, it didn’t pass unnoticed by neither the adults, but the two men seemed the only ones concerned, as their wives just rolled their eyes, they just saw the gesture as something sweet.

“We decided we’re going to be their brothers” Oliver explained “I’m going to be Felicity’s brother and Tommy will be Thea’s brother too” he said with a smile

“Why?” Malcolm asked, frowning

“Mom said that she will need all the brothers she can get” Tommy answered “and we thought that if she got two brothers, Thea should have too” the men kept frowning, but their mothers smiled widely at them

“You know what Moira?” Rebecca asked in a whisper “I think we’ve raised them well”

“Yes, yes we did” and then she turned to the kids “you know, I think that it’s a wonderful idea, these girls are going to have the best big brothers in all the world” the boys smiles grew even more

“Mommy, can Felicity walk?” Tommy asked

“Yes dear, she can” as she said it, she left the toddler on the floor. As soon as Felicity’s feet touched the floor the blonde girl started walking towards the boys, her doll still pressed to her chest

“Omy” she hugged her brother with one of her little arms, refusing to let go of her new toy, Tommy hugged her back, he was happy that he finally had his sister

“Can we show her the playroom” Oliver asked his parents

“Sure darling, but you’ll have to be careful okay, remember that she is still little” the boys nodded enthusiastically and she made a sign to Raisa to accompany them to the playroom.

“come on Felicity” Oliver said as each of the took one of her hands, and guided her to they playroom, followed closely by Raisa.

They tried to show everything to Felicity. They took out all the toys and show them to her, to which the little girl giggled and clapped her hands. After a while they just sat there and tried to teach her new words

“can you say Oliver Felicity?” he asked her, sitting cross legged in front of her on the floor

“O” Felicity said, tilting her head to the side, clearly frustrated that she couldn’t say this word

“O-li-ver” he repeated patiently for about the seventeenth time

“Oiver” she said, finally after a few more attempts

“Great!” Tommy and Oliver said, clapping her and she smiled and imitated them, she looked happy

“Now, can you say your name? can you say Felicity?” Tommy intervened, but the girl didn’t answer, she just looked at him

“I think that her name is harder to say” Oliver said, thinking out loud “maybe she can say it shorter”

“Like what?” Tommy asked while the girl in front of them kept repeating ‘Omy’ and ‘Oiver’ and clapping for herself

“hmm how about Lissy?” immediately Felicity’s attention was back to them as she repeated

“Lisy” she said, and showed them the doll “lisy, lisy, lisy” the boys looked at each other and laughed

“I think she just named her doll with her own name” Oliver said and Tommy nodded.

Half an hour later, Moira, Rebecca, Malcolm and Robert went to the playroom and found their children sleeping on the big puff of the room, each boy in one side of Felicity and holding her hands.

16-5-1991.

Tommy was waiting by the door of his house, with Felicity’s hand in his. He was wearing of his shirts and a pair of new jeans, and Felicity was wearing one of her new dresses, it was red and had a big ribbon at the waist.

“mommy come on! We’re gonna be late!” he said to Rebecca that was in the bathroom finishing her hair

“just a minute darling and we will go! I promise” she yelled back at him. Tommy huffed and decided to use the time making sure his sister knew what she had to say

“Felicity, what do we say when we see Oliver, do you remember?” he kneeled in front of her, so they were at the same height

“Appy edday!” Tommy smiled, they had been practicing all week ‘Happy Birthday’ and that was as close as she could get, but he was very proud, because he knew it was a very difficult word.

Only a month had passed since Felicity came into their life and started living at  the Merlyn manor, but her brother was totally enamored with her, and the little girl adored him just as much, he was her favorite person in the world, followed closely by Oliver. Felicity was very smart and loved to learn everything that they had to teach her.

It was normal to see her following them through the house, and-contrary to what their mothers though could happened-  the boys didn’t mind at all, they took care of her and taught her how to play with them, always with patience and caring. 

“that’s it” he said with a smile “happy birthday” Felicity smiled at him and in that moment, their mother finally came

“let’s go” Rebecca said and Tommy grabbed Felicity’s hand again in his and walked out the door, his sister on one hand and Oliver’s present – a dinosaur that walked and roared- on the other, and Felicity’s other hand was full of Lisy, she didn’t go anywhere without her favorite toy.

Tommy and Felicity were already knocking at the door of the queen manor before Rebecca could catch up with them. It was Moira who opened the door, with little Thea on her arms, and welcomed her guests

“hi guys” she said, animatedly “Oliver is on the garden, the party already started!” she said with a smile to which Tommy gave her mom a weary look, they were late! “and there’s a bouncy castle and everything!” the boy didn’t need to hear anymore as he took his sister and they both went out to where the party was being held, looking for their friend.

As soon as Oliver saw them he ran towards them, leaving the children he had been talking to, without any explanation

“are you ready?” Tommy said to Felicity as he saw his friend approaching” the little girl nodded with her head “now”

“Apy eday Oiver!!” Felicity yelled with a wide smile that made Oliver smile even more, he went to the girl and hugged her first

“Thank you!” he said, before turning to Tommy, even if it was a little difficult because Felicity didn’t let go of him

“Happy birthday Oliver!” Tommy said, giving him the bag with his present.

“Thanks!” Oliver opened it and loved it, but he said that they would play with it another time, because there were a lot of things to play with today.

The birthday boy showed them everything that his parents had set up for his day, there was a big table with all kind of snacks and juices, a ball pond on one end on the garden and a bouncy castle on the other, there was even some clowns entertaining the children but, as soon as they went near them Felicity started crying clearly afraid of the disguised men, so the boy’s didn’t came near them again. Oliver had about 70 guests, all kids of their school and children of their parents friends, but he only talked a little with them she stayed most of the time with his brother and sister all afternoon, much to the chagrin of his mother who kept telling him that he needed to be a better host, but he just ignored her with a smile, and said to her that

“It’s my birthday so I want to be with them!”

The party went on without one hitch, the kids sang the happy birthday and ate the red velvet and chocolate cake that was Oliver’s favorite. But after a while, Rebecca and Moira started hearing some conflict around the bouncy castle, so they went to see what was happening. When they approached the kids, they saw that Oliver and Tommy were kicking out everyone out of the bouncy castle while Felicity played with her doll, sitting on the grass, 

“Oliver what it’s happening?” Moira asked, confused at to why the boys were doing this

“We need them to get out of there! Oliver said, seriously, looking at one boy, -Carter Bowen his mother recognized- that was still playing on the attraction

“Why?”

“Felicity wants to play” he said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, but Moira just looked at him, maybe even more confused than before, felicity seemed calm

“Mommy said that she couldn’t get on the castle with all the children there, because the big ones could hurt her uni.. Unintentionally” Tommy cleared her, struggling to say such a difficult word,

“But she wants to play there, so, they have to get down so she can go up!!” he said, still looking at carter, his eyes showing all the anger for the other kid.

“Oliver darling, I’m sure Felicity won’t mind waiting a little bit..” Rebecca tried to say, but Oliver interrupted at the same time

“no!”

“we have been waiting a lot, and we asked them,  and we said please, and she started crying, but we calmed her with her doll, but she wants to get on the castle! And Carter wont get down” Oliver started 

“and he is jumping so much and so high that we can’t go with Felicity! Because he could hurt her!” and Tommy finished “You have to get down Carter!!”

After some bribing from Moira with two bags of sweets instead of one, Carter bowen got down from the castle and their mothers saw as Oliver and Tommy took Felicity’s hands and helped her up. Once they were up there, Felicity started jumping and falling almost everytime, but she was laughing and doing it again and again, meanwhile her brothers looker at her and jump beside her, to make her jump higher, always carefull of the little girl between them

Rebecca and Moira looked at each other and half smiled, knowing what the other was thinking. That the relationship between those three, was something that anybody had expected, and that Felicity was going to be the most protected girl in all starling city if it was on the hands of her brothers.


	4. I wanna hold your hand

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Growing up is always an adventure

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know that i am always making excuses and breaking my promises for updates, but this time is for a good thing! I got a job!! unfortunately, I've got the night shift and I spend almost all my time sleeping, because i end up so tired... but I'm writing on my notebook as much as I can and when I have my day off ( like today) I'll try to update, though I can't promise anything but one thing, I will finish this story, I don't know when or how, but I will finish it. That i can promise  
> that said, thank you so much for all the kudos and the comments, it's amazing to know that, even though I am the worst updater ever, you are still here. From now on there will be little time jumps, until we reach the time I want and need for the climax of this story. I hope you like it,

# 3.Growing up

With her brothers always teaching her things, it wasn’t much later when Felicity could speak almost as well as them, everybody said she was too advanced for her age, even though she sometimes struggled with the pronunciation, she had a lot of vocabulary. And did she love to talk! Sometimes, the hard thing was to found her quiet.

She really loved to talk, about everything and anything, from the last book that Tommy had read to her at night- currently it was the little prince- to her favorite Disney movie, she loved beauty and the beast with passion. Felicity talked to everyone, but to be fair, Oliver and Tommy were almost always her listeners chosen, and the truth was, they didn’t mind at all, they love to talk to her, and watch how she said new words every day and helping her with the ones she struggled more. Listening to one of her rambles was one of their favorite things.

So it was really no surprise when, the summer before she turned three years, Felicity had no problem whatsoever explaining her brothers that she didn’t want to enter in the pool that was in her back yard.

“I don’t wanna I don like it!” she said with her brows furrowed and her arms crossed at her chest. She was standing in front of the pool in a cute pink one piece swimsuit while Oliver and Tommy were looking at her from the water

“why not?” her brother asked “Oliver and I are here to be with you Felicity!”

“but I can’t swim” she pouted” and my feet don toch the ground and it’s scary!” she pouted” and I don wanna!” after hearing that Oliver got out of the pool and went to stand beside the little girl’s side

“Hey, you are with us, it’s okay if you don’t swim, we will be with you all the time ok? And we will keep you up all the time, right Tommy?” Oliver looked to his friend that was stepping out of the pool too, and stood at the other side of their sister.

“of course” he smiled and took one of Felicity’s hands in his as Oliver did the same with the other and squeezed it “that’s what brothers are for” he said as a matter of fact

“you trust us ok?” Oliver asked her and after a few seconds, she nodded with her head, a shy smile peeking on her lips

“ok” she said, nodding again as if trying to convince herself that it was really ok

Oliver went first and jumped to the water, then Tommy followed and they both extended their hands for Felicity to take them, but the girl was still hesitant to jump.

“You can sit down on the edge and we’ll catch you ok?” Oliver encouraged her. Felicity took a deep breath and did as Oliver has said, she followed her brothers instructions until she was with them in the water, giggling. Just as they promised, they never let go of her, and soon she started enjoying it, laughing and even clapping. She felt safe with them and, even though she didn’t learn to swim, she could always go into the pool in one of her brothers was with her.

\---------+

When Tommy and his mom went down the stairs they weren’t exactly surprised to see Felicity already sitting on one of the stools in the kitchen, drinking juice. She was bouncing on her heels,-or rather, her ass, as she was sitting- nonstop, the enthusiasm clearly visible on her face and her wide smile.

Today was her first day of school, and she couldn’t be more excited. She had woke up early, and she was ready more than an hour early, so, as her brother and mom entered the kitchen she was already dressed in her school uniform –already beginning to show wrinkles from so much movement- , her shoes bouncing in the air and with her little backpack already on her back.

“morning Felicity!” said Tommy, also wearing his school uniform as he sat on the stool in front of her while their made served him cereals and chocolate milk “You’re pretty on the uniform!” he smiled at her,

“Thank you Tommy!” she smiled at him

“Good morning sweetheart” Rebecca sat beside her daughter and kissed her hair “I see you are ready”

“good morning mommy!” Felicity answered, her cheeks a little red “yeah, I’m so ready! It’s going to be great!” Tommy chuckled, he knew his sister couldn’t wait to start her classes and even though he wasn’t nearly as excited, he was happy for her.

5 minutes later Raisa and Oliver were waiting at their door, So Raisa could take them all to school

That was one of the things that excited Felicity the most, she was going to go to the same school as Oliver and Tommy, and even though she knew that they were older and couldn’t be with her at every moment, just to know that they would be close to her, it was enough

Rebecca kneeled in front of her

“Enjoy your first day baby girl, and when you come home, I’ll be here waiting to hear all that happened ok?” Felicity nodded and after a kiss on her mother’s cheek, she left running to the limo that was waiting for them. So Tommy’s mom turned to him to kiss him

“take care of her”

“Yes mommy, Oliver and I will take her of her, I promise”

Once they were all in the car Oliver and Tommy started to talk about what Felicity would find on her first day, the good teachers, the bad teachers, their favorite and less favorite classes, the best places of the playground and a lot of things that almost made Felicity’s head spin

“The most important Felicity” Oliver said “is that, if you need anything, we will be there to help ok?”

When they arrived to the school the boys went in opposite directions, as Felicity’s class was on the other side of the building, so she followed her classmates and teacher and left Oliver and Tommy to go to their own class

“Good luck!” she heard them shout after her, and she smiled.

Turned out, the boys had to maintain their word to take care of Felicity. When they went out to the playground on the recess, they approached the little one’s zone, searching for their sister, but when they found her, she wasn’t laughing or playing, she was sitting next to a tree, her head buried between her knees

They started running towards her

“hey, Felicity what happened?” Oliver was the first to reach her, so he sat beside her“are you okay?” He felt more than see her nodded

“I’m okay” she answered,. Her face still hidden between her knees

“Then why are you sitting here, all alone?” Tommy asked her

“Tommy, you are my brother right?” Felicity asked, raising her head just a little bit, enough to look at him

“what?” he frowned

“I know that Oliver is not my real brother, cause he doesn’t live with us and he has another mommy, .. but you are right?”

“Felicity why are you asking this?” Oliver said,

“one girl in my class said that he couldn’t be my brother because we don’t  look alike, that the Merlyns have dark hair and I don’t, and that means I’m not one” The boys looked at each other, with 9 years they barely understood what an adoption meant, They knew that the little girl had had another parents, and that she was alone when she came to live with the Merlyns, but for all that matter to them, she was Tommy’s sister and that was it, nothing else mattered, they loved her as a sister.

“Felicity” Tommy called her, hearing him, Felicity raised her head a little more, and the boys could see that she had been crying, and that broke their hearts “You are my little sister, no matter what anyone says” he smiled “I love you… and mom and dad love you too” he said “Don’t let anyone make you doubt, you are my sister Felicity” the little girl jumped to hug her big brother

“I love you too Tommy” he hugged her back and after a few minutes they broke apart

“don’t listen to her okay?” she nodded with her head and cleaned the tears that were on her face with her hand

"let's go play!!" Oliver said, and both smile at him and nodded with their heads, and soon the three of them were running and laughing. Felicity smiled, her brothers were the best in the world,. and no one could convince her otherwise


	5. Family Matters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> let's see how things go in the merlyn mansion, shall we?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you can kill me, I deserve it, because it's been 5 months since my last update. I know I said I would try to update sooner, and I tried, but my job kept me completely away from my computer, the night shift was more that I could handle, and all I could do was work and sleep. But as of a few weeks ago, I am, again, unemployed, because they decided I wasn't good enough and fired me. And Finally, this last week I had time and inspiration to write. I really hope you still want to read what I have in mind for this story, and I know there will be chapters (like this one) that are more of a transition one, but trust me with this, I know where I' going. And now, the chapter!! i really hope you like it, and thanks for your pacience with me!!!

# 4\. Family matters

The next year everything went great for the queen and Merlyn families. Their children were growing up happy and healthy, and cherished by their parents, or at least that was what the world saw from outside, but for Tommy the reality was quite different.

“I don’t understand him” he said, plopping on the bed next to Oliver. The two friends just arrived at Oliver’s bedroom, after leaving Thea and Felicity with their mothers, and as usually, their conversation turned to an old theme... Malcolm

“But, why do you think he doesn’t love her?” Oliver asked him, as many times as they had talked, he still was confused

“I don’t know man it’s just the way he acts around her. I mean…. he’s not mean or anything, but he’s not nice either, you know? It’s like she’s bothering him constantly, and the worst thing is that she worships him” he said, angrily

“How can she bother him?” Oliver tried to understand, and Tommy sighed

“It’s just… like the other day... We were all getting ready to go out to dinner, mom was ready and I was just waiting for Felicity to come down the stairs. When we went down dad was telling mom that she looked beautiful, and then he kissed her cheek with a smile, the he saw us, and smile at me, saying that I too was a very handsome little man, and he gave me a pat on the shoulder. Felicity was by my side, she was wearing a new dress and she was just smiling at him, waiting for him to say something nice about her, with Lisy on her arm, you know she never leaves that doll behind, and when he saw her he... He said that she was too old to be carrying a doll everywhere and that she should grow up and act like a lady” Tommy had started pacing the room “come on man, she is only 6! You should’ve seen the change in her face Ollie, she nearly started crying.”

“What about your mom?” Oliver asked, not really knowing what else he could say, he didn’t understand his friend’s father, like at all, Felicity was cute a adorable…

“You know my mom, Felicity is her baby, and she adores her”

Well, then you’ll have to compensate Tommy!” The dark haired boy looked at his friend furrowing

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that, if your dad says something mean to her, you say something nice, so she doesn’t get sad”

“That’s what I did,” he smiled, proud of himself “I told her that she looked beautiful and that Lissy would be a great company because we were going to a really boring restaurant, so it was a good Idea to bring her. I only got half a smile and that thing she does when she tilts her head, but then I started making jokes and silly stuff and by the time we arrived to the restaurant she was laughing” he chuckled, remembering, and then his smile faded “but still”

“Yeah I know”

Oliver sat next to him deciding that from now on, as her other brother, he too would say something nice to Felicity when he saw her, he would saw how pretty she looked, and maybe that would help too. He thought about his dad and how he was always saying nice things to Thea, even though she was only four but the little girl beamed every time he called her beautiful, he wanted that for Felicity too, and if Malcolm didn’t want to make Felicity as Happy, Tommy and he would have to try.

Three days later Moira and Rebecca decided it was a good time for the two families to go out together. After some convincing on the boys part they had decided that it would be a good idea go to the amusement park just outside the city. The children were excited, but the more nervous was felicity, because she had never been to one of those before, so she was really happy to go with all her family, queens included.

Tommy could see it on his little sister, it was the same face she had the first day of school, and it was contagious

“Is gonna be so fun! Were gonna ride the roller coaster and the crash cars and its going to be so fun!” she said to him, as they went to the Queen mansion to pick them up so they could all go together.

“Yes, it’s going to be fun, and we will go to the haunted house!” Felicity halted in her spot, looking him seriously

“I will not go with you that is scary!” she was even furrowing and that made him smile, felicity was a strong girl but she was a little coward, but it was normal, Tommy thought, she was just 6 years old.

“Don’t worry, I meant Oliver and I Felicity, I know you don’t like those things” the knocked on the mansion door, waiting for them to open the door.

“Why do you like to be scared? It’s not funny!” Tommy shrugged

“I don’t know we just like it” just as felicity was about to say something, the door opened and Oliver went out, with little Thea in his hand.

“Hi Tommy, Hi felicity!” Oliver said as Thea let go of his hand and ran towards the other girl hugging her. As of late, Thea had taken a huge love for felicity, maybe it was because she always player with her or because she was the other girl in their strange group, but it was hard to get the little girl away from Felicity, so the four were seeing together a lot, the two boys taking care of their sisters. But it never bothered them; in fact they enjoyed their time with them.

“Hi Thea!” felicity said smiling

“She insisted she wanted to wear that” Oliver said pointing to Theas clothes, his little sister was wearing pink leggings and a purple t-shirt with a unicorn in the center. It was the type of clothes that Felicity usually wore. “she said that this way she could be pretty like felicity” Oliver cleared to them, winking to his friend, even though it was true what he had said, he knew that knowing things like that -even if Thea died of embarrassment- was good for felicity

“Oh Thea you are always pretty!” felicity said to her “but thanks”

At that moment Robert and Moira stepped out their house and urged the kids to go to the front gate where Rebecca and Malcolm were already waiting.

The day was fun, Oliver and Tommy rode in all they could twice o three times, and even Felicity had repeated at the roller coaster, screaming at every turn with the biggest smile ever on her face. Little Thea had enjoyed her rides on the merry-go-round and at the little boat ride that was set like a jungle with a lot of animals, the boys had accompanied both their sisters on a ride on a wheel that had them squeaking at the heights. All in all it was a very funny day.

As the day continued Oliver couldn’t help but to observe Malcolm, and more than anything, his relationship with his daughter. Tommy was right, he was really cold with her, felicity wanted to tell him things, -she had rode the roller coaster for the first time and she hadn’t been scared!, as she put it- but he didn’t acknowledge it like Oliver thought he should, with excitement, even if it was fake. So tommy and him, the encouraged felicity to get with them in most of the attractions, and, to Oliver surprise, it was Robert most of the time who said something nice to felicity. He commented on her clothes, he said that she was very brave on her first roller coaster and even bought her a stuffed animal that she had loved on one of the stands. Malcolm, on the3 other hand hardly paid attention to her, h talked to tommy, he said that he was so brave to enter the haunted house, and stuff like that but, when it came to his daughter he was so cold.

 At the end of the day, after leaving tommy and a sleeping felicity at their house, and while Moira put to bed an equally sleeping Thea, Robert went to his son’s room.

“Dad?” Oliver asked to his father

“Yes Oliver?” he sat on the bed next to him

“Why Malcolm isn’t nice with Felicity?”

“What do you mean?”

“He is cold with her, Tommy told me and I saw it today, he isn’t really nice with her” Robert sighed, of course they had noticed, Malcolm wasn’t a very subtle man, and lately, the differences he made between his children were becoming more and more obvious

“You don’t have to worry about that son”

“But it makes Felicity sad, and Tommy too..”

“You are a good boy Oliver, but it really is grownups problems, don’t worry okay?”

“Okay” he smiled a little

“Now go to sleep”

“Dad?” he called again as he was about to closed the door of his room

“Thanks” Robert eyebrows drew together at his son’s words

“Why are you thanking me?”

“Cause you are good with me and Thea, but you are also nice with Felicity, and that’s good because she needs it” he tilted his head

“you don’t have to thank me for that Oliver”

“I love you dad”

“Love you too son”

  * \- - 



“hey Felicity!” Tommy said, entering his sister’s room. Her bedroom always made him smile, because it was such an odd combination, for a girls room, or at least, that’s what he thought, On one part she had a lot of girly things, and on the other, she had a lot of toys that she had borrowed from him when he stopped using them, he could see cars, action figures and hero stuff all mixed up with dolls and princess things, yes maybe it was odd but it fit his sister personality

“hi!” she didn’t look up at him, immerse in what she was doing. Felicity was in the middle of the room, sitting on the floor surrounded by what seemed to be computer parts and she was just looking at them, smiling

“What are you doing?” Tommy asked, confused

“Momy said I could have her old computer but it didn’t work, so I disarmed it to see what was wrong! It’s cool” she clapped her little hands together

“all by yourself?” he was impressed

“It was easy!” she was smiling ear to ear “and fun! Cos it’s like a puzzle and I looove puzzles”

“but how did you do it?” Felicity was only 7, and he knew she didn’t have the tools to do that

“well, I asked Marko for a scriver,” she smiled shyly pointing to a screwdriver that was in the middle of the room “He told me that I could have it if I didn’t run with it in my hands and if I was very careful and called him if I needed help” Marko was one of the staff of the house, one of the many that, since that first day, had fallen in love with the little girl, and he gave her everything she asked if he could “ and I promised, I was very careful Tommy!”

“it’s okay Felicity, but next time, you ask me to come okay? You can do it by yourself but I will be here with you, just in case, okay?” she nodded enthusiastically and started explaining

Tommy sat at her side as she told him every part that she had took apart from the computer, of course she didn’t know the names, so she just created new ones like the “littlecdthingy” (the hard drive) the fanny (the system fan) or her favorite, the chipyThing (the motherboard)

He was just smiling at her, he was so proud of his little sister that he didn’t know how to express it, she had, on her own, notice that something wasn’t working, -well that didn’t surprised him that much, it was true Felicity loved puzzles, and she hated mysteries, she was the most curious girl he’d ever met- so she had disarmed it and, again, by herself!! Discovered why the computer didn’t work (apparently the fanny didn’t worked). But more than anything he was so happy to see that light on Felicity’s eyes, she was glowing, and her eyes were sparkling so bright it was contagious.

“and now what?” he asked her, okay, it was impressive that she had disarmed it all alone but, now that she had done that,..

“Now I arm it together again” she said, so confident, that he believed it”

“But it doesn’t work right? The fanny..”

“it was tooo dirty” felicity interrupted him moving her hands and even closing her eyes to mark the words“ but I cleaned it, and now it spins see?” she showed him how the little fan span as she blew air to it “it works” she laughed, she was so enthusiastic, that Tommy smiled at her, sincerely, he didn’t had a doubt, if Felicity said she could so it, she would

“you are truly a genius little sister” her eyes opened at his words, and her smile widened more, if it was possible

“do you want to help me?”

“Felicity I don’t even understand what you told me” he said, honestly

“that’s ok, I can show you and you help ok?” Tommy nodded, even if he wasn’t so sure, because the truth was, that just as Marko he couldn’t deny her anything either

So they spent the next few hours putting the computer together, there were some pieces that Felicity wasn’t sure where to put, but she just looked at the thing and in a few minutes, she would know, For Tommy it was incredible

“Kids, its time for...” Malcolm entered the room and stopped midsentence, looking at them in the middle of the floor, still surrounded by a few pieces, truth be told, there were just a few

“hi Daddy!” Felicity said to him with a bright smile

“what are you doing?”

“mommy gave me her computer” she pointed to it “and I”

“and you decided to break it?” he didn’t let her finish, their father’s face changed, he was looking angry at them “is that how we taught you to treat things? Your mother gives you a gift and you break it?”

“but Daddy I” she tried to tell him that she hadn’t broke the computer, but Malclm wouldn’t let her speak

“I am very displeased with you Felicity, you are grounded for the rest of the week, and tonight, you’ll have dinner here, alone after you clean up your room.”

 “dad that’s not fair! You don’t understand!”

“I don’t want to hear it Tommy, you should’ve controlled her! Now come on, your mother is waiting for us” Tommy looked at his sister, she was looking down, so sad that he could see tears going down her face, and it was heartbreaking, the change in her face, after seeing her so happy, to that, it made Tommy so angry at their dad.. but he knew that talking now, would be of no use, he knew how to play his carts, so instead of what he wanted to say to him, he just said

“I’ll go down in a minute dad”

Malcolm nodded with his head and went out of the room, so Tommy kneeled in fornt of his sister and took her hands in his

“hey”

“I didn’t want to break it” she whispered without looking up

“you didn’t break it, you fixed it!”

“But dad is mad at me”

“don’t listen to him okay? He doesn’t understand, but I do, and I know that what you did is awesome!” she looked up then, her eyes still full of tears

“But”

“hey, no buts, look the good side, I have to go downstairs to dinner, but  meanwhile you can finish the computer, and after, I’ll come to try it ok?” he cleaned her tears with her hand

“And dad?” Tommy shook his head and repeated

“don’t listen to him Felicity, you are a genius, he just, doesn’t know it” with a weak smile in her face, Felicity nodded and Tommy kissed her forehead before walking out of the door.

When he entered the dining room their parents were already there, and while his dad looked at him seriously, his mother looked confused

“where’s your sister?”

“dad grounded her” Tommy answered, looking angry at his father Rebecca looked at her husband, even more confused than before

“why? What happened?”

“I went to their room, and they had a computer, all in pieces on the floor, Felicity said that you have given it to her, and she broke it” he shrugged “so I grounded her and told her to have dinner on her room”

“Malcolm that computer hasn’t work in weeks, that’s why I gave it to her, I already have a new one” Rebecca said, with a tone of tiredness that Tommy wasn’t used of hearing in their mom

“that’s no reason to break it Rebecca,” that’s when Tommy decided to intervene

“But she didn’t break it dad”

“come on Tommy, I saw it, the thing was in pieces”

“yeah, but she didn’t break it, she fixed it, she disarmed it because she wanted to know why it didn’t work”

“she’s 7 years old Tommy, she can’t fix a computer”

“But she did, she disarmed it to see what was wrong, there was a thing, she calls it fanny, that didn’t work, but she cleaned it, and then it did work, we were putting the computer together when you came!”

“enough nonsense” he cut him “let’s eat”

Tommy and Rebecca knew that it would be pointless to argue with him, but that didn’t stop Rebecca to whisper to her son to eat quickly, so they could go upstairs to see how Felicity was doing

Sure enough, when mother and son entered Felicity’s room she had the brightest smile they had ever seen, just looking at the screen of the computer, now totally functioning.


	6. Make you feel my love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We found what happened after Felicity fixed her first computer and then a birthday!. ( sorry I really suck at summaries)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this chapter certainly came easier than the last one, and a looot quicker, maybe because I have a pretty good idea of how to do this now or maybe because all of my free time. I have to say thank you to all my readers, because the number of comments in the last chapter is... wow, astounding, really, I never thought I would have so much comments in one of my stories, that only happens to the good writers! like mellovesall or SuperSillyAndDorky06, not me... so really, Thank you!!  
> This week has been really hard for me cause, the 21th, was the 12th anniversary of my father's passing, and even if you don't believe it, seeing so many and positive comments, has helped me, a lot. So, here you have the next one, I really hope you like it, but if not, you can tell me, so I know that I have to get better  
> Love you!!!
> 
>  
> 
> PS: i've changed the chapter's titles cause I'mgonna name them all with songs, this chapter is Make you feel my love, by Adele ;)

Tommy smiled at his sister

“it works?” he asked, going to be by her side

“yeah! Look! I know you said you would come to try it but I finished and I couldn’t wait to know it if worked, so I put the cables, and it turned on! I haven’t done anything with it, because I don’t really know what to do now, but it works!! See!” Felicity was talking a mile per hour, she was so excited, that she had forget her sadness about their dad, right then, the only thing that mattered was that she had fixed the computer. That’s when she saw Rebecca too, standing at the door, looking at her

“mommy! I fixed your computer! Dad was mad, cause he thought I had broken it, but I was trying to fix it and it worked!”

“I can see that baby” she approached her daughter with a smile in her face, this, right there, was worth everything that had or will happen, because Felicity deserved to be happy.

“are you mad at me too?” Felicity asked her, looking insecure

“no Felicity, I’m not mad, what you did it’s amazing, you know that?”

“I kept telling her that! She doesn’t believe me!” Tommy said to them, as Rebecca kneeled beside Felicity to be at her same height

“Your brother is right, you are very special Felicity, no matter what your dad or anyone says, you are so very special, don’t let anyone convince you otherwise, ok?” Felicity nodded with her head and hugged her mother with tears in her eyes “I love you Felicity, you know that right?” she whispered into her hair

“I love you too mommy”

“Tommy, could you do me a favor, go downstairs and tell your dad that I want him to come see something ok?” Tommy smiled and run out of the room to fetch his father while Felicity showed to her mom that the little things she did know how to do with the computer were actually working. And Rebecca just looked at her, amazed by Felicity. When she had given her, her old computer, she just thought the thing would sit in a corner of Felicity’s room gathering dust until she threw it away seeing as it didn’t run very well, but now the thing was completely fixed. And the truth was, she couldn’t wait to rub it on her husband’s face.

Soon enough, Tommy was returning to Felicity’s room, with his father in tow, that looked confused

“Rebecca, did something happen?” he asked

“as a matter of fact dear, yes, something did happen” Malcolm furrowed “I think you need to apologize to our daughter”

“why do you say that?”

“because Tommy was right, and thinking about it you should apologize to him too, for not believing what he said”

“I don’t know what you are talking about”

“Felicity fixed the computer Malcolm, when I gave it to her it was little more than a bigger paper weight, but it worked just enough to play with it, but now, this computer” she signaled it with her finger “I tried it you know, and it works perfectly dear, she did fix the computer”

Malcolm opened his mouth, but no sound came from it

“it’s okay Daddy” Felicity said with a little smile

“no Felicity, he was wrong, so he must apologize” Rebecca corrected her

“I’m sorry Felicity, I didn’t think you could do it” he said, his voice rough as if it costed him to say it “I was mistaken” with that he walked out of the door, to, seconds later, hear the laughs of his family behind him.

“well, it’s time to go to bed, come on, I’ll tuck you in”

Tommy went to his room after kissing his sister goodbye, and Rebecca stayed with her

“goodnight baby girl”

“goodnight mommy, I love you”

“I love you too” Rebecca was about to get up from where she was sitting on the bed when Felicity, half-asleep said

“you know mommy? It was fun playing to fix the computer, I wish I could do it again” she closed her eyes and was asleep within seconds. Rebecca smiled and closed the door behind her.

\---------------------------------

Tommy came home to his parents arguing, again. It was most common the last months, it wasn’t that they didn’t love each other, he knew that, but they just... crashed, a lot. Tommy closed the front door carefully, he didn’t want them to know that he was there, so he hid behind the door

This fight was, however, a little different, because as soon as he heard them he knew they were fighting about his little sister.

“what are you saying Malcolm?”

“Oh come on Rebecca”

“I just don’t understand you”

“what it is to understand? That I am not mooning over her?”

“that you don’t love her! How can you not love her?”

“love isn’t forced, and you know that”

“you haven’t even tried! Not since the first day she come home with us, you always looked at her with disdain, at 2 years old, she was the most innocent creature in all the world, and you even refused to took her in your arms at the clinic…” Rebecca shook her head “she is our daughter in all the senses that matter”

“But, she’s not”

“how can you say that? We adopted her, and we’ve raised her… I love her, Tommy loves her more than anything and she loves us… isn’t that what matters? Love?”

“I’m sorry darling, but I think that taking her in… it was just a mi” his father’s words were cut off by something that sounded like a really hard slap.

“Malcolm Merlyn, you know I love you but don’t you dare calling MY daughter a mistake!!” Rebecca was yelling at him, and Tommy could hear her crying “or I swear to you that I take the kids and you will never see us again, do you understand?” That was the moment that Tommy couldn’t wait anymore and opened the door to the sitting room where his parents were, and sure enough, Malcolm face was red under the hand that he had brought to it, as a result of the smack his mother gave him. Rebecca was looking at her husband with tears in her eyes, but despite that there was fire in her eyes too, she was like a mama lion, protecting her cub, and Tommy would be right beside her.

“mom?”

“Tommy, hey” his mother’s expression changed immediately, from the rage that she had look at Malcolm with

“where’s Felicity?” Tommy was worried that she could’ve heard that conversation, she still didn’t know that she was adopted

“she’s at the Queens, why don’t you go to get he... or better yet, you go stay with her ok? Ask Moira if you can have dinner over there” Rebecca kissed his cheek and Tommy nodded with his head. But before he turned around, he looked at his father

“I don’t care what you think, Felicity is my little sister, and I love her dad, I can’t understand how or why you don’t, but I won’t let you hurt her” after those words, that left Malcolm as if he had received another slap on the other cheek, Tommy hugged her mother

“I’m proud of you son” he whispered with a smile “go be with her ok?”

“Love you, mom”

Tommy left his house and went to the door that connected both houses, and that, as the kids used so often, it was left open most of the time.

He entered the house and, after asking Raisa, he went to the play room when he found Oliver Felicity and Thea watching a Disney movie. This time it was the turn for the little mermaid, Thea’s favorite.

“hey guys” he said as he entered

“hey Tommy! Oliver greeted him, and made him a little room in the couch.

“umm Oliver, could you ask you mom if we could stay for dinner? Mom said it was okay”

“sure” Oliver got up and soon they could him calling his mom

Tommy sat beside Felicity and hugged her to his side

“Tommy, what’s wrong?” she asked him, but he shook his head

“nothing’s wrong”

“I know you! Remember?”

“I just wanted to be with my favorite sister”

“I’m your only sister” she reminded him

“hey!” Thea looked at them, resentfully “what about me?” she teased them

“his only blonde sister” Felicity corrected herself with a smile

“that’s better” and with That, Thea went back to her movie

“Tommy, tell me”

“I just.. You know I love you, right?” he asked “that I wouldn’t change having you as a sister for nothing in the world”

“me neither, you are the best brother a sister can have” Felicity hugged him back. That was the moment Oliver decided to go back into the room, telling them that they could have dinner together as soon as the movie was over.

\- - - - - - -  

A month later was Felicity’s 7th birthday. That morning, Felicity woke up to Tommy tickling her

“happy birthday to youuu happy birthday to you” he started singing as he kept tickling her “happy birthday Felicityy happy birthday toooo youuu”

“Tommy stop! Stop!” she screamed at him between laughter until he finally stop

“happy birthday little sister!”

“thank you Tommy!!” she hugged him with a big smile, she loved that on her birthday, Tommy was always the first to congratulate her.

“come on, you have to get downstairs to open your presents!!” her brother seemed excited, so she smiled at him and jumped out of her bed to follow him.

Once they were downstairs, Rebecca pick her up to kiss her and wish her a happy birthday, and Malcolm, said happy birthday to her with a kiss on her forehead.

Meanwhile, Tommy had left running, but before she could ask where he went he came back the same he had left, but this time, he had something in his hands that he gave to her

Felicity opened his present and found a little tool box, with several screwdrivers and some tools she hadn’t seen before

“you have to be careful with those ok?” Tommy smiled at her, but she looked at her confused, tilting her head to the side not really understanding why her brother would give her such a strange present.

“now, you have to open my present baby girl” her mother said, but Felicity looked at her, and she didn’t have anything on her hands “come on” she signaled for Felicity to follow her, so she did, until they stopped in front of a door of one spare room in the house, that they used to use for storage. The door had a big bow, and Felicity was even more confused “come on, open it”

Felicity went to the door and grab the doorknob, still unsure of what awaited her… but nothing would’ve or could’ve prepared her for what she found

The former spare room, was full of computers, some of the look old, others love newer, there were also some laptops on a table. Making a quick count, Felicity counted about 20 computers in total...

“mommy?” she asked, before even though she was smart, she didn’t understand fully what was happening, her mom crouched beside her

“do you remember when you fix the computer a few months ago?? And you told me it would be fun to do it again?” Felicity nodded, of course she remembered, after some time with it she had learned to do a lot of things with the computer “well I talked to some friends and asked them to give me their old computers, if they didn’t work, or if they simply didn’t used them… so you could… try”

The smile in Felicity’s face said it all, it was the greatest gift anyone could have given her. And now she did understand the toolbox Tommy had given her. She turned around to hugged her mom

“just one condition baby, you still have to do your homework, and play outside this room ok? So, for now, you can only be here two hours a day... okay?” Felicity nodded enthusiastically, this would be so great!!!

A month Later, Felicity had successfully build her first computer from scratch with parts that she took from the computers her mom gave her.


	7. I'll stand by you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry, I'm really sorry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! well first of all thank you, so much, for all the comments and the kudos that this story is receiving, its amazing!! you are amazing!! second, some of you asked me when do I update, well, I update always, as soon as I can, I update when I finish a chapted, i don't have anything written in advance, i always say to myself that I should but I never do it, so the chapters arrive when I finished them, so.. there's that and third.. this chapter is shorter than the others, but it's so intense, that I didn't want to add anything more... and well, don't kill me... PLEASE, remember that i love you and that I have a plan for this story and everything that happens, it's according to that plan. 
> 
> PS: also remember that english is not my native language so if there's any mistakes, I'm sorry!!!

After two years of fighting a stomach cancer Rebecca died on a Tuesday, the year Felicity would turn 10.

The last months had been hard, after Rebecca’s quimio stopped working, every time he saw Tommy and Felicity it was harder and harder because how do you help someone in his situation?  He did what he could, he just let Tommy decide what he wanted from him, a talk, a hug, or just to stay there and not say a thing, it was the only thing he knew what to do, his friend was hurting so he had to help him in any ways he could.

The day of the funeral was the worst day that Oliver could remember, while Thea stayed at home, being too young to be at the funeral, Oliver went with his parents to pay his respects.  Oliver didn’t know what to do or what to say, he couldn’t imagine the pain that his friends were going through, just the thought of something happening to his mom or his dad, it was too hurtful.

 when he went to the Merlyn house he saw his friends almost instantly, tommy and felicity were sitting side by side right next to where his dad was greeting the guests that arrived, he didn’t say anything to Malcolm and instead He walked up to them, still unsure, but knowing that he had to do it

“Tommy?” his friend looked up at him with tears in his eyes

“hey” he looked at him for a second and then looked down to his sister “Look Felicity, Oliver is here” Tommy’s voice was broken but Oliver could see that he was trying to stay strong for his little sister.

Felicity looked up too, and it broke his heart even more. The girl he knew was so bright, so shiny to everyone around her, she was always smiling and talking, but seeing her now, she was so sad... it was as if someone had turned off her light…she seemed so tiny… he kneeled to be at their height

“hey Felicity, “he said with a weak try of a smile “how are you?” the young girl started crying again, quietly

“I miss mom” she said between tears

“I know” he said “it’s normal to miss her”

Oliver saw as Tommy surrounded her with his arm, hugging her to him so tightly it almost looked like it could hurt, but none of them said a thing about it. Oliver was at a loss and he did the only thing he could think of, sat on the other side of Felicity, stroking her back

After a few minutes in that position Tommy cleared his throat and they broke apart

“I’ll bring you something to drink and something to eat, ok?” Oliver offered, he was pretty sure they hadn’t drink or eat anything in all day and he needed to fell useful, so after Tommy nodded to him, he went to the kitchen, searching some comfort food.

A few minutes later he was back with a tray carrying a few sandwiches and some juice from felicity and a soda can for Tommy, but they weren’t where he had left them, so he left the tray on a near table and looked around for them, that’s when he saw Tommy approaching him, and looking at where his sister was supposed to be

“Where’s Felicity?” Tommy asked him, clearly confused

“I left her with you I just came”

“I had to go to the bathroom, I asked to stay here... wait, I’ll ask my dad” Tommy went to where his father was a few steps away “dad, did you see Felicity?”

“I don’t know where Felicity is Tommy…” malcolm answered with a distant tone. And Tommy  knew it was useless, his dad never really paid attention to felicity, not even in a moment like that

“Don’t worry, she has to be around, we’ll go separate ways to search for her”

“Yeah, ok” Tommy nodded and they each went on their direction, Tommy to the gardens and Oliver to search for her at the house. He was starting to get worried when he heard her crying behind one door

 _of course you would be there._ He opened the door to the computer room, the room that Rebecca had given her almost three years ago, and where Felicity spent a lot of time. When he entered, he found her in a corner, hugging her own knees, crying her heart out

“Oh Felicity” he whispered as he walked towards her as the same time he sent a message to Tommy with his new phone. “computer room” he didn’t need more words. Once again, he kneeled in front of her

“Felicity”

 “I miss her so much” she said between sobs “what am I gonna do without her?” she asked him “Now I’m all alone”

“hey” with a hand in her chin he made her look at him “how can you say that?”

“dad doesn’t love me Oliver, we know that” she looked down again, and Oliver didn’t know what to say, because it was true and it broke him to see little Felicity having to said those things, because it wasn’t fair... In the last three years Malcolm’s attitude towards Felicity had been worse each day that passed, the only one who could stop him had been Rebecca and now that she was gone…Felicity still didn’t know that she was adopted, that was just because Rebecca had forbidden Malcolm to spill the beans even after her death, but even then, there was so much hurt that he could do to her…

“what about Tommy? Come on Felicity you know that Tommy loves you and that he would do anything for you, and don’t forget about me” Oliver said “I may not be your real brother Felicity, but for me there’s no real difference between you and Thea, for me, you are my little sisters, I love you both the same” Felicity started crying again

“I want my mom”

“I know princess” Oliver sad beside her, took her in his arms and put her on his lap, letting her cry on his shirt, and trying not to cry himself.

Without Oliver knowing, Tommy arrived at that moment, stopping at the door when he saw the scene in front of him. Oliver surrounding a crying Felicity. And in that moment, he almost smiled, because he knew that whatever happened at least Oliver would always take care of his sister, and that was oddly comforting for him.

Instead of approaching the, he went back to the main room where Oliver had left the tray with the food, he wasn’t very hungry but he knew that Felicity hadn’t eat in all day, and that, if she saw him eating it would be much easier to convince her, so he picked it up, went to the kitchen for cold drinks and took it all to the computer room. When he came back, Oliver hadn’t moved, but noticed that he couldn’t hear Felicity’s crying anymore

“she fell asleep” Oliver said to him, when he saw him close the door behind him

“that’s good, she must be exhausted, you want me to” he offered to take her, but Oliver shock his head and with a little maneuver he was able to get up from the floor and carefully, put her on the sofa of the end of the room. Tommy sat at the floor, right beside the head of his sister and Oliver took his lead and sat beside him”

How are you Tommy?” he asked for the first time that day

“I don’t know man I’m. “he sighed and leaned his head back “it’s like a part of me has turned dark, where her light used to be” Tommy said, with tears threatening his eyes, but as if a sobering though had pass for his mind, Tommy closed his eyes, and cleaned his tears with the back of his hand “But I have to be strong for Felicity,” Tommy caressed his sister hair “she needs me right now. I can’t…”

“Tommy, it was you mom too”

“I miss her Oliver, more than I can say, and it hurts so much to know that I will never be able to talk to her again or hugged her…” this time Tommy couldn’t help but start crying, and Oliver, hugged him, knowing that there was nothing he could do or say that could help his friend in that moment…he just had to make sure Tommy knew he would be there for him… and for Felicity

A few hours later, at the cemetery, when he picked up a handful of sand to throw on Rebecca Merlyn’s grave, he repeated a promise that he had made not a month ago

“I will take care of them, I promise”


	8. Barely breathing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Rebecca's passing life isn't easy, for Tommy and Felicity.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry it took so long to write this chapter, you see the thing is I have the story in my head and sometimes I have point a, and point c, but i don't know what to get in between, so this happens.. now i'm fairly confident that the next chapter will be easier cause I have the main idea of what will happen, but if not, i'm sorry.. really sorry!  
> well and now with more happy things, thank you, so much for all the comments and kudos this story is receiving is overwhelming to see so many people read what just months ago was something just in my head, so thank you!! you are the very best and I love you!!!
> 
> PS: As usual, all mistakes are mine, english is not my native language so... there might be a few ;)

 

After Rebecca died, there were a lot of changes in their lives. Felicity now spent almost all her time with the Queens, even sleeping there for whole weeks, as Malcolm told them he couldn’t take care of her in his grieve, even if Tommy knew that the only reason was that he didn’t want to have Felicity around.

Tommy was mostly okay with that, because he missed his sister, but he knew that being with the Queens was good for Felicity, even if he couldn’t be with her as much as he wanted to, because they treated her as a daughter, as Malcolm should’ve but didn’t. They had even cleared a room for her to bring things from her computer room so she could “play” there. With his sister almost living in the next-door mansion, Tommy didn’t spend a lot of time in his house, if he wasn’t out with Oliver, they were with their little sisters.

Another thing new in his life that year was that he and Oliver were now freshmen in a new high school, -thankfully they were in the same class- and there was a lot of new people to meet, and that was… stressful for Tommy. He didn’t want to be the kid whose mom had died in a new place, as he had been the last few weeks in the other school. Even if he didn’t want to admit it he was happy in his little group with Oliver, Felicity and Thea. He enjoyed spending his time with them, and he needed for nothing in that aspect of his life, but Tommy knew better, he knew that it would be healthier for all of them to have friends outside their little group, because they couldn’t always be together, mostly because their age gap with the girls. So, when he was in school, he was his usual charming persona, as the days passed it was less and less hard and in a matter of weeks, he had more friends, or at least, more people to talk to in case Oliver wasn`t there and he was more comfortable with it.

Another change, and the more worrying of them all, was the one that Tommy could see in his sister, Felicity had lost that little spark in her eyes, even when she was with her computer or playing with him or Thea he could see it, and it killed him that he didn’t know how to ignite it again. The little girl hadn’t even wanted to celebrate her birthday that year, and even though she had a little party at the Queen’s garden, it was only the two families, a cake and some presents that she received happily and gratefully but without the emotion he was used to see in his sister.

It was hard for them living without her mother, Tommy missed her a lot,but he knew that Felicity’s pain after her passing was a little stronger because of the way Malcolm treated her, she felt that she lost the only parent that truly loved her. He tried to be strong for Felicity, sometimes it was harder than others.

 “hey Tommy” Oliver said as they met to walk the last steps to the school doors – They usually got a ride together but Oliver had been running late that morning, so they went separately.

“hey” he answered “how is Felicity?” his sister had been in the Queen mansion for almost two weeks now, he really had to talk to his father

“this morning she said to my mom she wasn’t feeling well, I think they let her stay in bed” Oliver shrugged

“what? She is sick? Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked, worried

“relax man, she is alright, she just had a headache, and mom thought it was better to let her rest, she has done her homework for weeks in advance so..” Tommy’s shoulders relaxed, he knew there was no reason to worry because Felicity was in good hands he just wished he had been with here

“sorry I snapped, it’s that... I know that she is taken care of in your house, but...”

“you miss her” Oliver finished for him and Tommy nodded with his head “hey I understand, if it was me and Thea... it would be hard too”

“I have to talk to my dad” Tommy said, serious

“yeah well, good luck with that”

“yeah” Tommy sighed, they both knew it would be like talking to a wall but he at least had to try

That day, in their math class, as Tommy was waiting for Oliver to come back from the bathroom, he felt that someone had sat on his table, so he looked up from his notebook

“hi” Tommy looked at Laurel. She was a girl that went to his Algebra and math classes, with brown eyes and brown hair, he couldn’t deny she was beautiful, but he thought that she was a little full of herself, because she was the one with the best grades, and for Tommy, that was a no go.

“hi” he said, more as a question than anything, because in almost two months of classes it was the first time that she talked to him

 “Tommy, right?” she asked, smiling at him

“yeah, that’s me”

“I’m Laurel” Tommy almost rolled his eyes, he knew that, they had been in the same class for months

“I know that” he said, not being able to keep his mouth shut about something so obvious

“right, so, I’m throwing a party this weekend, well, this Friday after school, to start the thanksgiving break, and I wanted to invite you and Ollie” one part of him breathed in relief, knowing that he had the perfect reason to not go to that party, so he smiled sheepishly

“That would be great Laurel, but we promised our sisters that we would take them to the zoo” he answered honestly, the girls had been asking for weeks to go to the zoo, and they had decided on that Friday to make the trip, there was no way in hell that they could cancel or even postpone it, besides, he didn’t want to, his sister was more important than a party, not that he would say it to her.

“the zoo?” she asked cautiously, giving the impression that she didn’t believe it, which she confirmed with her next words “Look, if you don’t want to come to the party”

“what party?” Oliver interrupted them, sitting on his seat, next to Tommy and looking between them

“Laurel invited us to a party this Friday” Tommy explained

“oh, that sucks, it’s zoo day, there’s no way in hell we can miss it” Tommy chuckled as Oliver had said the exact thing he had been thinking, and tried to ignore, at least for the moment, the little disappointment that he could hear in Oliver’s voice, because, even if he hadn’t said anything, Tommy knew that his friend liked Laurel a little. And the girl in question was looking at them as if they had grown two heads each, so Tommy decided to explain it

“Oliver sister is 8 and mine is 10 years old. ” he said, “The zoo in starling has two new baby pandas, and our little sisters have been asking for weeks to go see them, and we promised them we would go this Friday...” he explained and shrugged

“that’s…sweet I guess” Laurel said, finally. “well, I’ll see you around then, have a good time at the zoo”

“and you enjoy your party” Oliver said to her with a smile that Tommy knew well from that time that Oliver liked one of his nannys.

Their professor entered the class at that moment, and Laurel went to her seat at the front of the class.

Later that day, when Tommy went home, he went directly to his father’s office, to talk to him about Felicity. He didn’t find him there, so he went to his room. He didn’t expect that he would found Malcolm’s bedroom almost empty, except for a suitcase in a corner and briefcase where Malcolm was putting some papers that he took from his nightstand drawer.

“dad?” Tommy asked his father, that hadn’t noticed that he was even there, Tommy frowned while Malcolm didn’t acknowledge him “What are you doing?”

“I’m packing” he said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world without even looking at him

“I can see that, but... why?” Malcolm stopped and took a deep breath before he looked up at his son

“I’m leaving Tommy”

“ok?” he said, half affirmation half question “I understand if you have to go out for work, it’s not your first work trip but why did you packed all your stuff?”

“no Tommy, I’m not leaving for work I’m leaving starling for a while”

“what?” now Tommy was not only confused, he was angry “what do you mean you are leaving? Next week is thanksgiving?! What about me, and my sister? what are we gonna do, what are you talking about?”

“You and Felicity are going to stay with Robert and Moira for a while” he said, not looking at him anymore as he finished to pack the last few things in his briefcase and closed it

“dad!”

“Tommy, I have to go” Malcolm stopped beside Tommy and patted his shoulder “I’ll call” But Tommy went after him, calling him and asking what the hell he was doing, but not once Malcolm looked back

And with that Tommy watched incredulously and his father went away, just months away after his mother’s death, now Felicity and him were alone.

With slow steps Tommy made his way to the Queen mansion, thinking about how was he gonna tell his little sister that their father had basically abandoned them

With a sigh, he entered the house after Raisa opened the door for him

“hello Raisa, do you know where my sister is?”

“Miss Thea, Miss Felicity and Mister Oliver are in the movie room, Mister Tommy, I’m sure your sister will be happy to see you”

“I don’t think so” he mumbled with as much as a smile as he could muster. He was on his way when he encountered Moira on the hall

“Hello Tommy”

“hello Mrs. Queen” Tommy looked down

“come with me Tommy, please” he nodded as Moira guided him to her study with a hand on his shoulder “I take it you talked to your father”

“well, not exactly, I caught him leaving” he said, anger rising in him again, knowing in that moment that his father had wanted to leave without even seeing him or telling him anything “he just told me that he had to leave and walked away”

“you know that we are happy to have you both here, I’m sure Oliver and Thea will be just as excited” the truth was she and her husband had tried to talk some sense in their friend, but to no avail, when he told them he was going to leave, Moira couldn’t believe it, what more could those two lose... that was why she had promised herself that nor Felicity or Tommy would need for anything in her house. If the for kids could treat each other as brothers and sister, she could treat them as her children, God knew they needed some love.

“I know but... it’s not the same”

“Tommy, your father, he’s... He’s not dealing as he should with your mother’s passing” she said with resignation

“neither am I, or Felicity, we’re grieving too, but we hadn’t run like rats!” he yelled, even though he knew that the woman in front of him didn’t have anything to blame her for “we stayed, and we try to move on, as hard as it is without my mom, and now he leaves, and he left us alone, our mother is dead and our dad is a coward!” as he said those words, Tommy started crying, it wasn’t fair... and he missed his mom, so much

Moira hugged the teenager to her chest and let him let it all out, she knew that the young boy had been trying to stay strong for his sister, but she also knew that he would need to explode sooner or later. It didn’t help that she wasn’t happy with Malcolm’s choice either. She knew he was grieving, and it wasn’t a problem for her to have Tommy and Felicity with them, but they needed their parent, not the neighbors, even as close as they were.

After a few minutes, Tommy calmed himself, and took a step back from her.

“I... I have to talk to Felicity” he said, and Moira nodded. He took the few steps to the door and then turned around “thank you Mrs. queen”

“I think it’s time you start calling me Moira dear”

“Ok, thank you Moira”

“you’re welcome”

He closed the door behind him and made his way through the house. As Raisa had told him, Tommy found them in the home theater, Oliver was between them, holding a big bag of popcorn and the girls were picking it out.

“Hey guys”

“Tommy!” his sister yelled and jumped from her seat, and hugged her brother “Oliver told me you were going to talk to dad, am I going back home?” she asked him excitedly, and it pained him to no end to know that he had to break her little heart again

Tommy sighed and took her hand, guiding her to her seat again. Oliver sensing the mood that his friend was, stopped the movie.

“Tommy, what happened?” he asked his friend, it was obvious that the talk with his dad hadn’t gone well, but he didn’t answer.

“Tommy?” Felicity asked too, tilting her head to the side, as she always did when she was trying to figure something out

“Felicity... you... I…” he didn’t know how to explain it, but he had to “when I went to talk to dad he, “he took a deep breath, come on Tommy, like a band-aid “he told me that he was leaving town for a while, and that we will be both staying with the Queens” the smile on his sister face disappeared as soon as she heard those words

“he left?” Tommy nodded and saw as tears pooled at Felicity’s eyes “he left us alone, a few days before thanksgiving? When is he going to come back?”

“I don’t know, but I don’t think he’ll come back at least in a few months”

“So now, we’re all alone, without a mom or a dad?”

“hey, think of the good side, we will be living together again “he tried to cheer her up, even knowing it wouldn’t work “that’s good, right?”

“yeah, but I wanted to live with you in our home, where I have my things and with dad”

“Well I’m sure Oliver and Thea’s parents will let you bring anything you want from the house and... and Christmas and Thanksgiving will be more fun this year because we will be with them!” But when his sister started crying he just pulled her towards him, hugging her as tightly as possible, and trying not to let his tears escape.

The next day after school Oliver, Robert and Moira helped them get all their things from the house and to the Queen manor, they installed Tommy in a room next to Felicity’s and in front of Oliver’s and the Queens promised the Merlyn children that they try to make them feel as at home as possible while they stayed there, but they all knew that it was not what they wanted, or needed, they needed their dad, even if it was one as detached from his kids as Malcolm Merlyn.

And in that moment, he knew that he could never forgive his father for leave them alone in their worst moment, when they most needed him.


	9. Hurt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> we pick up where we left of lasst chapter, and there are a lot of changes in their lives, and not every change is good ( I still suck at summaries, sorry)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!! well, here you have the new chapter, I hope you'll like it, because it was very difficult for me to write ( the muse didn't want to help me) and I'm not really sure about it, but I'm going to Paris Tomorrow for a week( I'm going to Disneyland Paris! yay!!!!), and I thought it was better to publish this that to have you another week or more waiting. Thank you so much for all your comments and kudos, withot you, This story wouldn't be here...you are absolutely the best.  
> As always a reminder that english is not my first languaje and it's probable that there are a few mistakes, my apologies for them.

That Friday as the boys left school they went to pick up their Little sisters to take them to the zoo. On the way out Laurel waved at them

“bye boys, have you have a great day at the zoo with your sisters”

“thanks Laurel, and you have a great party!” Oliver answered her with a smile and a wave of his hand, while Tommy just smiled at her, knowing that his friend had a crush, even if he refused to talk about it.

As soon as they arrived to the girl’s school, they saw them at the door, waiting for them, bouncing on their feet. On the last years, Thea and Felicity had become good friends being the youngers of the group.

“hey Thea! Felicity! Over here!” Tommy called them to the town car that would take them to the zoo,

 The girls run to them and, after hugging their brothers, got in the car, followed by Oliver and Tommy

“yay! We are finally going to the zoo!!” Thea said, clearly excited “Joan went last week and said that the pandas are so cute!!”

“this deserves a soundtrack!”  Felicity said, and then talked to the driver “Hey mike! Could you put our cd please?” the driver nodded with a smile and soon the boys were listening for the hundredth time to the latest obsession of Felicity and Thea

“seriously Felicity? The backstreet boys again?” Tommy groaned

“it’s their last Cd and it’s awesome” she defended “besides, I want to go to their show next June, so I have to memorize all the lyrics”

“oh come on, as if you didn’t already know them”

“well, it doesn’t hurt to heard them again” Thea said, as enamored by the group as her blonde friend

“I told you Felicity, mom won’t let you go to the concert, she says you are too young” Oliver intervened and Thea frowned and crossed her arms in front of her chest

“Tommy” Felicity asked tentatively “do you think she will let me go?” Tommy shook his head lightly

“I don’t know Felicity, but.. to be honest, I wouldn’t count on it” he said, with a shrug

“right” Felicity’s smile dropped, and Oliver knew they had to try something to put that smile back..

“hey! you know? Tommy and I saw that they have some baby animals more, like an elephant and a little lion”

“can we go see them too?” Felicity asked him

“sure, we are going to go see all the animals!” Oliver said “and dad let me take his camera so we could take some photos!!” Oliver said to the girls

“That’s awesome!” both girls screamed and then, started to talk between themselves about what animals they had to see first.

That afternoon passed quickly, the girls had decided that they would decide the route to go, so they took their brothers (and Ed, their bodyguard) all over the zoo twice to see all the animals, to the point that Oliver and Tommy were exhausted from following them.

“I can’t believe we are so tired and they want to go to the panda zone again!” Tommy said to Oliver as they seated at a wood bank in front of the tiger’s habitat just two meters in front of them, carefully observed by Ed, -whom Moira had insisted they took with them for the safety of her four children- “we are older than them, we are supposed to have more stamina than this!”

“yeah, I guess the enthusiasm helps...”

“yeah, or the sweets that we bought them” he reasoned

“I know, but we promised them, right? An afternoon all for them”

“remind me whose idea was this?”

“yours” Oliver said to him without even looking

“never listen to my ideas, I’m an idiot”

“yes, you are” Oliver chuckled “but look at your sister’s face” Tommy did as he told and understood what his friend was talking about, Felicity was smiling widely, like she hadn’t since their mom’s death, not really. It broke his heart to know that his little sister wasn’t as happy as she should as her age, but he knew that he would do anything to have her smiling like that again

“you’re right, that smile is worth everything” he smiled and got up from his seat “come on, let’s join them, we have to go to see the pandas” Oliver smiled and followed him.

After another hour visiting animals and watching the little spectacles, the girls were finally wore down, and they went for the town car that was already waiting for them at the exit.

They hadn’t been 5 minutes on the road when both girls fell asleep with little smiles on their faces.

\-----

Thanksgiving in the Queen mansion was always a big occasion, even if the party was only for family- unlike Christmas- Moira always made sure that the house was properly decorated in yellows, oranges and browns, with flowers and little Knick knacks that created a homey atmosphere.

Felicity had waited all morning by the phone, hoping that their father would call and wished them a happy holiday, but, as the hours passed, she knew that he wasn’t going to call, so she stood up and went to her room to get ready with tears in her eyes.

They all were dressed to the nines, Oliver and Tommy, as well as Robert were dressed in blue suits with ties that matched the decorations, Felicity was wearing a soft yellow dress and Thea a orange one. When it came the time to say their thank yours, Moira started

“I’m thankful, for having here Tommy and Felicity, that not only make my children happy, but they also gave this house a little more life and love” she smiled at them “and to Raisa, without her, this” she signaled to the table “wouldn’t be possible”

“thanks to Raisa” everyone echoed

“I’m thankful for having my best friend with me” Thea continued “and for all my things, cause I know that not everybody is as lucky as we are” Moira smiled at her daughter, it was important to her that her children knew the value of money, even if they didn’t to worry about it

“well, I’m thankful to still be in Tommy’s class and to finally had outgrown my child’s voice” he chuckled, as they did the rest of the family. Tommy followed

“I’m thankful to the Queens, you have welcome us in your home, and you treat us the same as your own children, and that means a lot to me, it’s more than our dad is willing to give” Robert spoke then

“you don’t have to thanks us for that Tommy, When Malcolm asked us, there wasn’t a doubt, that we would do it. You are family. We wouldn’t want you anywhere else but here” Tommy nodded with his head at his words, tears prickling his eyes

“I’m thankful for my brother Tommy” said Felicity” because I know that without him, and even with the queens by my side, I would be all alone” she sounded so sad, so serious, that Tommy couldn’t help but get up and hugged her to his chest

“I will never leave you alone lil sis” he kissed her hair, and broke apart to smile at her. As he was sitting on his chair again, it was Robert’s turn

“Well, I’m thankful for my family” and then added, looking directly at the Merlyn kids “all my family”

\------

When thanksgiving break ended, they all went back to their classes, waiting anxiously for Christmas break.

After their little conversation with Laurel before the break, the girl seemed to decide that they would be good friends, so, more often than not nowadays, they would sit together at lunch, with her and her little sister Sarah, that was just a year younger.  Tommy didn’t really mind, because although Laurel still wasn’t his favorite person, – he was right, her ego was a little bigger than her beauty- it was amusing to see Oliver had such an obvious crush on the girl. It was so obvious, that the little Lance sister had caught on it pretty early on, and they would talk about the other pair in their group, laughing and even betting when of who would take the first step.

As the days passed Tommy became nervous, because this would be their first Christmas without their mom, and now his dad was away and he didn’t actually believe that he would come back in time, so he knew that it would be hard for his sister. He hadn’t missed the little girl seated beside the phone waiting for a call that never came. The truth was, that since the moment they started living in the Queen house, they had yet to speak with Malcolm, and even though Tommy was mostly ok with it, he knew Felicity wasn’t and he was worried about how this holiday would affect her. It didn’t help that this yeas was the first one that Felicity would know that the presents weren’t from Santa. And even though she and Thea - whom Felicity had told herself after she heard two older boys talking at her school- had took the news incredibly well, he knew that it would be a little less magical.

“hey man, what’s on your mind?” Oliver asked, knowing that his friend hadn’t really listen to him in the past few minutes. They were at big belly burger, and for the past minutes, Tommy had had a absent look, so he decided to ask.

“Christmas...”

“what about it?” he furrowed

“I’m worried about Felicity, this is the first Christmas without our mom … and dad “he added pressing his forehead to his hands “I don’t know how she will cope with it, she is still a little girl man” he said, without looking up,

“I know, but you won’t be alone, I know that it’s not the same, but you will be with us and ... I don’t know, maybe we could do something fun, like when we took them to the zoo... we could think of something”

“yeah... I guess”

“what about you?” Oliver asked

“what about me? Tommy looked up this time, a look of confusion on his face

“well, this is your first Christmas without your mom too, and I know that it isn’t easy for you either” Tommy went to speak, but he stopped him “look, I know that you think that you have to be strong for Felicity, and I suppose that I understand your reasons for it, but right now there’s only you and me so please, don’t lie to my face and say that you are okay, I know you enough to know that it isn’t true” Tommy’s shoulders fell with resignation,

“what do you want me to say Oliver? I miss her like crazy, she was so amazing... my mom always knew what to say or what to do to make us happy, and now she’s gone, and dad... dad is a coward that left us in our worst moment... but it’s so hard to be angry and sad at the same time that I don’t really know how to feel right now” Oliver saw as his friend’s eyes filled with tears and knew that he needed this, he hadn’t see Tommy cried since the funeral, so this was way overdue. He moved from his seat across him to sit beside Tommy and let him cry on his shoulder. Some of the other customers spared them more than one glance but he couldn’t care any less, Tommy was hurting and he knew that he wouldn’t broke down at the house in fear that Felicity would see him. So he hold his best friend as he cried for his mom.

\------->

Christmas day arrived sooner than Tommy would’ve want, and soon all the oranges and yellows in the Queen mansion were replaced with greens, reds and whites, the socks were hanging from the fireplace and there was a gigantic pine tree with all sort of decorations and lights. As the days passed, he watched Felicity and saw as her little smiles were further and further apart, and even when she did smile, he could’ve swear that it wasn’t a real smile. So he decided to take the advice that Oliver had give him, and went to speak to the matriacrch of the Queen family-

“come on in” he heard Moira as soon as he knocked on the door to her office “Tommy dear, what can I do for you”

“well, Christmas is really near and I wanted to ask for something”

"What is it?" She asked, the curiosity clear on her face

“this week go on sale the tickets to the backstreet boys show, and I want to take Felicity, but I know that I need you to let us go…”

“I don’t know if that is such a good idea”

“Look, I know that Felicity is still little and that I am not 18 either”

“you are right, you are both too young for such a thing” she interrupted

“I know, and if you want us to take three bodyguards with us, I will understand, and buy them tickets too, but please, please, let me do this for my sister, we can even take Thea, she loves them too…, so even though neither of us really like the group I’m sure Oliver wouldn’t mind tagging along with us… it could be great” Tommy knew he had to use all his charm and charisma and maturity for this or she wouldn’t budge “but I see my sister every day and she is so sad, it breaks my heart, cause I can’t make things better, cause mom is gone and dad.. is dad... but this I can do this for her…and I know that it would make my sister happy and I... I have to try”

When he saw Moira’s little compassionate smile, he knew he had win.

Christmas eve was a great event in the Queen mansion, were all the friends and associates of the family were gathered together to celebrate. Fortunately for the boys, Oliver’s parents had let them invite some of their friends of high school, so of course, Laurel and Sarah were there, as well as John Diggle, or Digg, -a boy a year older than them that the boys had met a week ago in the hallways of the school when they helped him pick up his things from the floor- so the night wouldn’t be as boring, so the five of them spent the night talking and laughing in the little shed in the garden by the pool. But as lucky as the boys were, the girls found themselves practically locked in Thea’s room, with a prohibition to enter the party, with the reason they they were both too young.

Christmas morning arrived with two screaming girls running down the halls of the house., Tommy and Oliver, that had stayed up later than normal, were still sleeping were their sisters bursted in their rooms and jumped on their beds

“come on it’s Christmas let’s open the gifts!!!”  Oliver groaned to answer his sister, but it was no use, he knew her and knew for certain that she wouldn’t move or shut up until he got up from that bed, and he could hear clearly as Felicity did the same with Tommy. So he opened his eyes and sat up on his bed.

When they went down -followed by the Merlyn kids- to the room that held the big tree, Moira and Robert were already there, sitting on one of the couches.

“merry Christmas everyone” Moira greeted them with a smile as the girls looked astounded to the big pile of presents that was waiting for them

“wow!” the exclaimed, enthusiastically “come on Felicity, lets’ hand out everyone ther presents!” the blonde girl nodded and in no time, each member of the family had their little – or not so little- pile of presents in front of them.

They all started opening them, Tommy got a watch, a movil phone, a new bike and a lot of clothes. Oliver got another phone, a photo camera, a discman and clothes too. Thea had received a bike, 3 or 4 barbies with a lot of complements, some clothes and a set of fake make up. Felicity was the last one in open her presents, and Tommy was waiting anxiously for her to open his little envelope. But of couse that was the last thing she opened, first, she opened, 3 barbies, a new computer, and some parts for her old ones and of course, more clothes.

“what’s this?” she asked, as she saw the white envelope with her name on it.

“open it” Tommy said, with a smile. And as she saw what was inside it, Tommy swore that every cent spent on those tickets was worth it, because he hadn’t saw that smile in way too long, not even at the zoo. His sister looked between him and Moira

“really? Is this for real?”

“yes dear, your brother and I had a little chat and I decided tht it would be okay, as long as you take the necessary precautions” Tommy knew those precautions were 3 bodyguards with them at all times and numbered seats. But he was okay with it

“Felicity, what is it, what’s in the envelope?” Thea asked curious

“we’re going to go see BSB in concert Thea!! Tommy got us tickets for both of us!” both girls started screaming and jumping and laughing, and, after what seemed like hours, but were probably just minutes, Felicity jumped to her brother’s arms, giving him a kiss on the check “thanks Tommy”

“I love you sis”

“Love you to big brother”

Little did they know that they wouldn’t make it to the concert


	10. chasing cars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> really don't know how to describe,.. things happen and lives goes on?? sorry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi! I'm always saying the same thing, but i'm really sorry, it just.. I can't seem to write... and it's frustrating so I'm sorry, really! I'm the worst... I wanted to thank you all for all the kudos and the comments this story is receiving.. It feels amazing yto know that there are so many people who like it.. that said.. I hate this chapter, i really do, It has some things that are important for the plot but I just.. i don't like it, but I've been on it too much and if I didn't post it I don't know when would I be able to do it.. although it is possible that i rewrite, for now you have this.. let me know if you hate it and i promise I will do my best to try and make it better  
> Oh, one of you, made me realize that i haven't post their ages, so, here are some important dates ( the month is in letter cause i write it the spanish way, nad i don't want to confuse anybody)   
> Oliver's birthday : 16-may-1985  
> Tommy's Birthday: 01-February-1985  
> Felicity's birthday: 06-october-1990  
> thea's Birthday: 21- march-1991  
> Felicity's adoption: 12- april-1991  
> Rebecca's death: 02-june-2000

Days later, the Queen and Merlyn children found themselves in the New year’s party hosted again by the former. Like the last time, the girls weren’t allowed to be at the party for their young age, even though they were allowed to have mini party in Thea’s room to celebrate the countdown.

The biggest thing that Oliver would remember about that party was that it was the night of his first kiss, and to his surprise it was with Laurel. He had been crushing oh her for three months but he hadn’t said anything, -not even to Tommy, even though Oliver was sure his friend suspected something- so he hadn’t expected that, at the end of the countdown she had decided to kiss him by surprise to his utter delight.

When they broke apart after a sloppy chaste kiss, he looked at her, still a little confused

“Laurel what…” he cleared his throat “what does this mean?”

“it means… maybe” Laurel said with a smile before turning around to say happy new year to her little sister while Oliver looked at her astonished until Tommy went to hug him

“happy new year buddy, come on! Let’s go say happy new year to the girls before they fall asleep”.

Oliver nodded and followed his friend to Thea’s room, where the girls were dancing and singing a backstreet boys’ song-of course-.

“happy new year!!” Felicity was the first to saw them and she went running to hug her brother, closely followed by Thea that did the same before they changed brothers to hug

A few days later the four of them went back to school and back to their routines. Step by step the Merlyn siblings were adapting to their new circumstances, and were happier every day, even if they still missed their mom, the love of the queen family helped them a lot

That year the boys would became sixteen, and they both were very excited about it, because, among other things it would meant that they could start driving, or at least, start learning how to drive. Tommy’s birthday was barely two weeks away when he went to talk to his best friend.

“hey man” Tommy found Oliver watching Tv downstairs and sat beside him

“hey” his friends answered without looking away from the movie

“I wanted to ask you something” Oliver then put the Tv on mute and turned his body to look at him

“what is it”

“I’m about to turn 16 and I was wondering, would you mind, if I ask your dad to taught me to drive?”

“what would I be mad about that?” he said, confused

“well, it’s your dad, and he has to teach you too and.”

“Tommy, don’t be ridiculous, I told You some time ago, you can borrow him anytime you want” he chuckled “besides, I need you to know how to drive so you can take me anywhere”

“you already have a chauffeur that does that”

“yeah, but it will be funnier if it’s just us”

“there’s no way that we can do that, and you know that” Tommy admonished him “we won’t be able to drive without a parent or adult in the car until we are 17”

“you are such a mood killer sometimes Tommy”

“anyway, I still have to ask your dad, maybe he won’t want to, between his work and everything”

“that’s stupid too, but you won’t know until you ask him”

Robert was actually moved when Tommy went to him and asked. He knew that it was something that fathers would teach their sons and daughters, and he knew that it must have been difficult for the dark-haired boy to go and asked him, but of course he would, that very weekend he took Oliver and Tommy and drove them to an industrial zone that was deserted on weekends and started giving them lessons.

Both boys were very eager to learn and do it right so they did good, that day and all that follow.  The day of his birthday Tommy passed his exam without problem thanks to the lessons that Robert had given him and Oliver.

After his exam, he returned to the manor to celebrate his birthday with his family, the party would come later. The first one to receive him was his sister that hug him so tightly that she almost-almost- hurt him.

“Happy birthday Tommy!”

“thanks sis!” he said with a smile

“Come on! I wanna give you my present!” she dragged him to the sitting room, where a box sat on one of the tables, she picked it up and pushed it onto his hands

As he opened it, Tommy saw that her present was two photo frame, with two pictures, in one he was with their mom and Felicity, and for the look of it, it was taken around the time the little girl came into their lives, on the other one he was with Felicity, hugging her, and it was from about a month ago, that past Christmas.

“I wanted your present to be something special…” she said, looking down shyly. “do you like it?”

“I love it Felicity”

“really?” her face lightened up

“Of course, it’s beautiful”

“I love you Tommy”

“love you too Princess” he said as he hugged her again, he really loved his present, cause deep down he knew that she was the best present he would ever have.

“Tommy dear” Moira’s voice interrupted them “happy birthday!”

“thanks Moira”

“we’ve been looking for you, come on!” she signaled for them to follow her into the living room, where the table was set with all tommy’s favorites. Thanks to being a Saturday, Oliver, Thea and Robert were there waiting for him to congratulate him. After lunch, The rest of the family gave him their presents, a new video console from Oliver and two videogames for it from Thea. But the one that surprised him the most was the one he received from Moira and Robert, they had bought him a car!!  He knew that he still couldn’t drive without an adult y his side but he got a car, it was amazing!

“I... I don’t know what to say... thank you”

“well, now I can give you lessons in your own car” Robert smiled at him and clap his back with a smile

That night the party was great, every one of his friends was there to celebrate with him, and it was all Tommy could ask for.

The only one that seemed to forgot was his father, but Tommy didn’t give him a thought.

Months passed and life went on barely without a hitch. The bigger change in the mansion was that now it was more often that they got to see Laurel whom, after a little insisting on his part,  had decided to give Oliver a change.They had started dating, even if that mean just to hang out the same but with some kisses.

 By the time Oliver’s birthday came, the boys were immersed in exams so Oliver decided that his birthday party would be the first day of summer vacation two weeks later. That didn’t stop him to receive his presents from his family, and of course, he got his car along with his DMV permit along with a new camera from Tommy and some trinkets from the girls.

Three days before the end of the school year, the school of the girls called the mansion, asking that Felicity’s father went to the school to talk to the principal and her teacher, seeing that Malcolm hadn’t come back yet, it was Moira who went to talk to them.

“I swear I didn’t do anything!” said Felicity to Moira on their way to school that morning

“I know darling, I’m sure It won’t be a problem, maybe they just want to talk to me about your grades this year or something” Moira assured her

“but mom, then... why didn’t call you about me too, it doesn’t make a lot of sense”  

“I don’t know Thea, we’ll know when they tell them ok?” both girls nodded with their heads, not sure about what was going on.

As she entered the school she was greeted by the principal’s secretary

“hello Mrs. Queen” she said with a smile, and then looked at the girls behind her “good morning girls, Felicity, you are excused of your first class, Thea, you have to go to your class, young lady”

“good luck” the brown-haired girl whispered to his friend before she went to the hallway that led to her class.

Moira and Felicity followed Ms. Beattie into the principal’s office, where they sat in front of the man. Ms. Clark, Felicity’s teacher, was standing beside him with a smile.

“Good morning Mrs. Queen, I’m glad you could come to talk to us” Mr. Ecclestone said

“why am I here, is Felicity in trouble?” Moira queen, always to the point

“No, madam, Felicity is not in trouble, “he answered with a smile “in fact, it’s quite the opposite, she has the best grades of her class”

“then what is the matter”

“we would like to discuss to you that Felicity is push one year forward on the school”

“what?” Felicity exclaimed

“I’ve seen her in class Mrs. Queen” Ms. Clark said “and she is mostly bored because she already knows what we are talking about, she learns at such speed, that by the time that Christmas break comes, she has already gone through the lessons of the rest of the year, I feel that Felicity will be more challenged if next year she goes directly to 7th grade”

Moira seemed at a loss of words, she knew that Felicity was a smart girl, but she didn’t know just how much. So, she knew that in that moment, the best thing would be to ask the girl

“what do you think Felicity, do you want to skip 6th grade?” Moira ask her with a smile

“can I really do that? I mean…” Felicity was confused

“yes Felicity” her teacher answered “I’ve been thinking about this for a few months and I really think it would be best for you. I I’ve had quite a few talks with the principal about it before we consulted your… family” she said, looking at Moira with sadness in her eyes, and knowing that the father of the girl had basically disappeared months ago

“you can think about it if you want ok?” the little girl nodded

After a few more minutes of talk between the adults the principal told Felicity that they had until the end of the school year to decide and she and Moira went out of the principal’s office and into the hallway, where Moira told her to sit down next to her

“This is big news honey, what are you thinking?”

“should I do it?” she asked her “I don’t know, it’s true that I got bored in class, but I also have friends, I don’t want to be alone next year…but if I don’t do it, it will probably be a mistake because they say it’s the best for me.. I don’t know what to do” Moira saw with consternation as the girl started tearing up “my mom would know what to do” Felicity looked down and started crying, and Moira hugged her to her chest

“Felicity honey, I know that I am not your mom, but, I really think you should do it, you are so smart Felicity, and, about having friends, I’m sure you won’t lose the friends you have now, and you will make new ones...” Moira sighed “and Felicity, I know that, if your mom were here, she would be so proud of you”

“really?”

“of course, because I am proud! and she would be too, I’m sure”

 “I... I think I will do it, it... it will be the best, right? And mom would want me to do it, she always said, that I was smart...”

 “listen, why don’t you go to your class and enjoy the last days of school, and I go talk to the principal and say that you accept his offer, would you like that?” the girl nodded as she cleaned her tears with the back of her hand

 “Thank you, Moira,” Felicity hugged her waist again, and Moira kissed her hair

“you’re welcome honey”

After Felicity went to her class and Moira talk to the principal to fix all the papers needed for Felicity to skip a grade, she left to go to Queen Consolidated, even though all day, while she was at work, the only think she could think of, was that little girl crying for her mom, and who didn’t have her dad to comfort her.

 

Malcolm came back 5 days later


	11. 10.000 promises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Malcolm has arrived, and as usual he isn't bearer of good news

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello!!! first things first! thank you! your kudos and your comments are always awesome!!  
> I have good news and bad news, the good news is I hace a job again!! I'm working at the airport so, if someone comes to madrid, I may sell you a thing or two in our store hehe, ( i realized recently how much this web, and tumblr have helped me with my english...it's awesome to know I can hace a conversation with a client in english without a problem) the bad news, it leaves me with little to no free tme to write... so.. sorry, again, because this is late, but i just don't really have the tome to sit down and write that i would like... so sorry.. really. I'm not going to make promises about when i'll publish next, but as always i'm going to promise this, I will finis this story, i don't know when, but I will finish it.  
> This chapter is a little short but i thought it was better than no chapter at all... right?  
> PS: the title is from a bsb's song, I thought it fit hehe  
> kisses and love 
> 
> PS2: all mistakes are mine, sorry for them

 

Malcolm didn’t exactly come in peace, in fact it was the exact opposite. The first thing he said to his children was that they would be back to live with him, but not in the house they had known all their lives, because he was going to sell it

“what?” Tommy was the first one to ask, as his sister hug him, not really knowing what to say.

“I’ve been thinking a lot about it Tommy, and that house brings me a lot of memories of your mom, and I’m... not ready to go back to that” his dad said

“well, then go again, we are good here, you can leave again and come back when you are ready!” he started yelling

“it’s not that simple, I have to be here, I have business that need me”

 “I don’t want to leave that house!” the younger man yelled at his dad, that looked at him sternly

“Tommy”

“No! I’m not scared of my memories dad, I don’t want you to sell that house. You don’t want to live there anymore, that’s okay, don’t! but I won’t let you sell it”

Malcolm looked at him, the frustration evident in his eyes and, after a few seconds, that felt like hours to Tommy, he sighed

“Okay, we will keep the house, but it will be closed, until you are at least 21”

“Tommy...” Felicity was at his side, still hugging him at the waist, and he looked down to his sister that looked at him with tears in her eyes

“hey”

“I don’t wanna go away...” she said with a little voice “I wanna stay here with Thea..”

“I know sis” he smiled at her “but don’t worry, now I have my car and we can come over here every time we want, and I bet the Queen will let us stay the weekends and such, besides, its summer” he added” and now we will have two houses to have pool parties okay?” Felicity nodded but he could see she wasn’t really convinced of what he was saying-truth be told, neither was he- “it will be all right Felicity, I promise” he kissed her hair, and hugged her, as Malcolm watched as a spectator, noticing that Felicity hadn’t spoken to him.

“let’s go kids, there’s a lot of things to pack” he said to his children, even though Tommy knew there was no way they would be doing the packing themselves, Malcolm probably had already hired someone to do it. But the Merlyn boy was glad to go back, that way he could see what was being packed and how.

It’d been two days since Malcolm had dropped the bomb and Tommy was sitting in his mother’s former office.

He had told he crew his dad had hired that he would take care of that room, he didn’t want anyone messing with his mother’s thing, and even though it was hard to see al her things, he smiled often, seeing them.  He was sitting on the floor, surrounded by photos and some of his mother’s things, just thinking of her and how much things had changed since she was gone. Just when he was about to get up and pack everything in the box he brought with him, he saw that there was a closed drawer that he hadn’t see

As soon as he opened it, he saw that it was nearly empty, but there were two white envelopes, and, in each of them, in his mom’s scribbly handwriting, were his name and his sister.  He sat again on his spot on the floor, curious about what that envelope had, and he opened it. Tears appeared in his eyes as he saw that it was a handwritten letter from his mom and he started reading.

 

_My dear, dear Tommy_

_This sounds like such a cliché, but, when you read this letter it’ll meant that I’m gone. And I’m sorry.  I’m so sorry son for leaving you and your sister alone, you have to know that it is the last thing I want to do right now, but I’m feeling so weak, that I don’t know how much longer I can hold on. I don’t wanna go, and I promise I will fight with everything that I have, But if I fail and I’m gone, know that wherever I go, I’ll be happy because I had a happy life with the most beautiful, loving and wonderful children in all the world._

_I will always remember the days you came into my life, because those were the happiest days of my life. You were such a beautiful baby, with so much energy and so much love to give, that since the moment you were born I was proud to be called your mom and be able to raise you. And I think that I must have done something right because you both turned up to be so wonderful…  I love you, so much! You and Felicity are the best thing that ever happened to me, never forget that Tommy. I love you, so very much that is hard to describe it in words, I guess you’ll understand the day you became a parent yourself. But hopefully that day is far away, you are too young to become a father, I want you to enjoy being young a little more._

_My little boy, my Tommy…_

_I know it will be hard, but you have to stay strong Tommy, and you have to go on with your life, knowing that even though you won’t be able to see me I will always be by your side trying to help you and to guide you. I just want you to be happy, that’s all I ever wanted._

_There’s another reason I wanted to write you this letter, your sister. I want you to take care of her ok? Because I know that your father isn’t always there for her, and this will be hard for her, she is only a child, and I know, I know you are not much older, but you can lean on each other and help each other in moments of sadness. Don’t ever forget she is your little sister Tommy, family doesn’t end with blood even though your dad doesn’t understand that. I made Malcolm promise me that he won’t tell her that she is adopted till she is, at least 18. I hope he’ll keep his promise, being the man that I fell in love with. When the time come, you can tell her, but please let her know that no matter what, I love her as much as I love you and that, from the first moment I saw her, she was my daughter. I left a letter for her, so you can give to her when you tell her the truth, I hope it will help her understand, and forgive me._

_I’m sure you will be an extraordinary man Tommy, because you are already amazing. The way you treat your sister and your friends, you are such a caring soul, please never change that. Don’t let anybody tell you that it is a weakness, -not even your dad-because it’s not. The love that we gave and receive is a gift that makes us stronger in our hardest moments, it’s in our loved ones that we have to hold on when we are hurting._

_I love you Tommy, and wherever I go, I’ll always will_

_mom_

 

Tommy was in tears by the time he read the first line, and when he finished the letter he couldn’t stop crying. He missed her so much it was like a part of his heart had gone with her, but he promised her, right there, sitting in the floor of her office that he would try to fulfill her wished, he’d tried to get on with his life and he’d take care of his little sister the best way he could

“I promise mom, I’ll try to make you proud”

Tommy put his letter on the envelope again and pocketed the letter to Felicity, before drying his tears and starting packing his mother’s things. He left the room with a sad smile, knowing that he would come back to this house as soon as his father would allow him.

That day, as he walked around the house, he started hearing yelling. He recognized his father’s and Felicity’s voices, so he ran to Felicity’s former room, where she and Malcolm where arguing.

As soon as he entered he saw that Felicity was crying, hugging herself and looking down, while Malcolm was in front of her, with his usual air of superiority that Tommy hated so much

“what happened?” he asked, going directly to comfort his little sister

“he tore apart the tickets”

“what?” Tommy’s brow furrowed, not understanding what was going on

“you bought your sister tickets to a concert?” Malcolm asked him

“yeah, it was her Christmas present, we’re going to go with Oliver and Thea to see the…” then he understood... and he was livid “wait, you did what??”

“you think you can go to something like that without everyone knowing?”

“so, what? It’s just a concert”

“it hasn’t been a year Tommy; how do you think it will look if they see you and your sister enjoying a concert?”

“like we are living! Just like mom would’ve wanted!”

“don’t talk to me like that Tommy!”

“No, you don’t have the right to do what you just did, what? Do you think you are the only one that misses her? Just because we didn’t run to god knows where doesn’t mean we aren’t hurting, we lost our mom! And you, you ran like a coward! So you don’t have any right to tell us how to   move on with our lives, how to live without that missing piece, especially because you weren’t there to help us do it!!!”

Tommy emotions ran on the surface after reading his mother’s letter, and knowing what his dad had done to his sister, taking away her illusion, the only one had had had since Rebecca’s passing, was something he wasn’t willing to forgive. His mom had asked him to protect his sister, and that was what he would do, even if it was from their own dad.

“you can’t undone what you did dad, but I really hope that you come to regret it, cause, you already lost mom, I didn’t think you would want to lose us to… and with things like that, it’s exactly what you are going to do” his eyes were like eyes looking at his father, and he was almost proud to see that his words had affected him, but right now, the only thing in his mind was to try and comfort Felicity. “come on sis”

Felicity started crying more after they left the room, where their father still stood

“I’m sorry Felicity”

“it’s not your fault”

“I know but, I know how much you wanted to see that show and… I’m sorry”

“you tried Tommy, you bought me the tickets... it was dad who...” she looked up at him “why dad always does things like that? it’s not fair… I don’t understand”

“I don’t think he understands himself Felicity”

“what am I gonna say to Thea, he tore her ticket too...” she started crying again

“shh don’t cry princess, we will think of something ok?” she nodded, but he knew she didn’t believe him

Tommy knew he couldn’t get more tickets – they had been sold out for months now- but he could... well he didn’t know what he could do to make her feel better, but he would try

Felicity cried all the time that she knew the show was going on, she was in her room with the last CD of the backstreet boys playing on repeat, but, in between songs, he could hear her crying…she had wanted to be alone, not even Thea was allowed with her, even if the little girl had lost her ticket too, but for felicity, the worst wasn't not cgoing to the show, the worst thing of all was that it was her dad who had done that to her.

Tommy knew she had been right, it hadn’t been fair what her father did to her. His mom had asked him to protect his sister, and that was what he would do, even if it was from their own dad.


	12. Thinking Out loud

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our gang starts to grew into themselves, and that's not always easy. ( I suck at summaries, I know)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally! I'm back!!! I Know i know, it's been like forever, but my new work,( I work at a shop in the airport) is driving me crazy, I don't really have time for myself except for sleeping and writing has become difficult, but I promised myself that i would publish before my trip ( I'm going 13 days to NY! yay!!!!!still can't believe it! (any sugestions of places to go?)) Anyway.. I finally finished the chapter today, so here you are, I really hope you like it, this chapter has a time jump and show us a little more about the characters that I'm -trying- to build I have the idea for the next one, and hope that I'll have it before this one, but as always, i can promise you anything except that i will finish this story. I love you all and all yoir comments are always amazing, thank you so much for your support!!!!

# 12\. Thinking Out loud

 

Felicity didn’t like the new house. As much effort and love as her mother had put in decorated the other house, picking each piece of furniture and each and every little trinket to make it look and feel like a home, this house was everything but. His dad had hired a decorator and well, it was awful, the furniture was all black and grey, in leathers and metals, that made it all cold, dark and uncomfortable…

The only good thing was that as tommy had promised, they went often to the Queens house. Oliver and Thea had offered to came by their new house but Felicity preferred to hang out at theirs. Somehow after everything that had happened the Queen mansion felt more like home than her own house, and the fact that the relationship with Malcolm was as bad as ever didn’t help things.

 

As the years passed the four that formed the Merlyn-Queen gang, although still thick as thieves, had grown into their own interests and ambitions.

Felicity was now almost 13 years old and she was more than ever into her computers. When they had moved to the new Merlyn mansion, Malcolm had been adamant that she moved all the things from her computer room back in the Queen manor, so when she was on her house and tommy wasn’t around or couldn’t hang out with her she was between her beloved computers.

She had gotten better and better every day managing them, she had built some from scratch and even tried to improved their hardware and she was learning how to code by herself, reading books that she took from the public library, and with the passing of time it became her way of clearing her mind, inside that room there wasn’t problems she couldn’t solve. It was her happy space.

That love had caused her to get her firsts glasses at the age of 11 but she hadn’t mind, with the support of her brother she had decided that her glasses gave her personality and wore them with proud. She had decided that she wanted to go to MIt after high school and the truth was that that was as much for her love of technology as it was a desire to be away from her dad

_A few days after the concert, she had tried to forgive him, to give him a second chance to be the father she had always wanted and the father she saw in Robert Queen, so she went to his office to tell him that the school had chosen her to skip 6 th grade and that, according to her teacher she had a very bright future ahead of her. She wanted to show him that she was a good daughter to have. _

_But when she told him the news, he didn’t react as she had hoped, there was no joy, no acknowledgment of her achievement -she hadn’t dare wish to see proud on him- he just looked at her and said_

_“okay”_

_“o…okay?”_

_“yes, okay, what do you want me to say?” Felicity looked down trying to hide her tears_

_“nothing dad, I just... wanted you to know” without looking back up she got out of his office and went to the only room in that new house that she actually liked., knowing that whatever she did, it would never be enough for him to love her as she always had wanted._

Thea had developed a mad fashion sense for a 11-year-old. Taking after her mother, that had always been interested in it, she loved all that had to do with style and fashion. She had even dressed Moira for a couple events and had started to design her own clothes, one of the good things about being a Queen was that the world was inclined to hear you and your ideas, even at such young age, just for the sake of it, and she had found through her mother a couple designers and manufacturers willing to make her designs come true, so she could wore them to school or her parents events.

She had also put her eyes on one of the best fashion institutes in the world, and she wanted to go there her two last years of high school, the only problem with that was that it was in Paris and Moira was not really wanting to send her daughter to another country. But Thea had put her mind if it and she knew that she still had four years to convince her.

The two girls were almost inseparable, even though they weren’t in the same grade, they spent a lot of time together, alone or with her brothers, they had become confidents of one another and there was anything that they didn’t know about each other.

Tommy and Oliver were in their last year of high school and even though they weren’t the best in their classes as was Felicity in hers, they had passed without too many problems – They would never admit to their classmates that, when they had a problem with math or arithmetic, it was usually Felicity who helped them-.

Both boys had decided to go into college to get a business degree, but, contrary to their father’s thoughts, they did not want to follow their steps into the families’ companies. Oliver an Tommy wanted to open a club in the city, together. But they knew that, in order for the club to be successful they needed to know what they were doing. Of course Malcolm and Robert were totally in the dark about that, it was better for them to think that their oldest were doing their biding.

 Oliver was still dating Laurel and, although their relationship was a little trouble-y, they seemed to be good together into the group and they all hang out together with John Diggle, Usually Thea and felicity would hang out with them, the age difference didn’t really matter to them. The only one that seemed to be bothered by this was Laurel. She sometimes made comments about them being too little to being with them, but Oliver and Tommy brushed away her worries, they were their sisters and for them, it was the most natural thing in the world to be with them all the time, they had never noticed that age gap.   

It was the spring of 2003 when she started being more vocal about her concerns

“don’t you think it’s a little... weird?” she asked Oliver one time as they laid on his bed after a making out session

“what? ” he asked, knowing that she had had the first part of the conversation in her own head

“that Felicity and Thea are always with us? I mean I like them, and they are very sweet but… they’re so much younger than us”

“yeah but it’s not like we are doing anything they shouldn’t be seeing, I mean most of the time we just hang out by the pool or in the mall and things like that. Why wouldn’t they come with us?”

“and what if we want to do something... I don’t know like go to a horror movie or go to a friend’s house?”        

“all of my friends know them Laurel, they had been there since the beginning” he chuckled “and you hate horror movies so I don’t see that being a problem” he looked at her with a frown in his face “where is this coming from?”

“I don’t know... we are getting older and I suppose I notice that age gap more now than before”

Oliver knew her, and he suspected that there was something she wasn’t saying, but after more than two years dating her, Oliver knew that with laurel it was better to take and talk things at her pace, even if he didn’t like it. But the truth was that after that conversation Oliver kept an eye on Laurel and her interactions with the girls

It had been another month when he decided to talk to Tommy about it. Even though his best friend never said a thing he knew that he wasn’t Laurel’s biggest fan, but Oliver thought that maybe that was what he needed

“hey May I ask you something?” they boys were, as usual in Oliver’s room, making or al least trying to do their 12’s grade homework.

“sure” Tommy left his pen aside and put his attention in his friend

“it’s about laurel”

“What about her?”

“I don’t know how to ask you, I know you don’t really like her”

“look man, she is your girlfriend, and if she makes you happy, that’s fine with me” he said with a smile “the best thing is that loving her is your job, not mine” he winked at his friend “so tell me, what it is”

“had you noticed how she treats the girls?” Oliver saw as his friend made his best no-nonsense face

“Do you mean how she treats Felicity?”

“what?” this was Oliver’s time to make a face

“She always acts nice around Thea, but with Felicity, I don’t know, she’s colder, I don’t know why but I don’t think she likes her very much” Tommy sighed he had been thinking about that a lot, and to be honest it was the main reason that he didn’t like laurel very much, she could be Oliver’s soulmate for all that he cared, but Felicity was his sister and there was no one more important than her “why are you asking?”

“about a month ago she asked me if it wasn’t weird that the girl are always with us” he explained “I told her the truth, that it’s always been that way but, I really think that something is bothering her.”

“you should try to talk to her again man, girls are… complicated you know that, and, if something is bothering her... like I just said, you two should talk about it”

“yeah, I guess you are right,” Oliver sighed, “I just can’t understand what could be her problem you know?”

The days passed and Oliver didn’t know how to approach the talk with laurel, so everything remained the same

It was two weeks after the talk between the friends, Tommy and Oliver were in Tommy’s car going to high school, when another car slammed into the passenger door.

When Oliver opened his eyes, he noticed several things. The first was a white light that hurt his eyes and made him blink several times, the second, was the pain in his head and right shoulder, and when he looked down after his eyes adapted, he saw that he had his arm on a sling, and that even if it didn’t really hurt his leg  propped on a white cushion and bandaged- the third was the hour, he saw a clock on the wall that said it was a little earlier than the hour Tommy usually picked him up to go to school, so the accident that was coming back to his mind had happened at least, the day before. And the fourth thing he notices was that he wasn’t alone. Tommy was sleeping on the center of a small couch, beside his bed, his wrist was on a cast and his face covered with bruises that went from green to black and purple, and some cuts– and of both of his sides were Thea and Felicity, also asleep, leaning their heads on Tommy’s shoulders.

The picture made him smile.

His eyes were closing again when the door to the room opened and Moira went through it

“Oliver dear!” she smiled seeing that her son was awake and smiling “how do you feel?” Oliver noticed that she was talking low, probably trying to not wake up his three companions

“I’m fine mom, my head hurts a little and the shoulder too, but I’m ok”

“well, you did have a nasty concussion, you also dislocated your shoulder and sprained your ankle”

“how long I’ve been sleeping?”

“they kept you sedated for about 24 hours” Oliver left out a breath

“what happened?” he asked “I remember that I was talking with Tommy on our way to school and then a horn and... all went black”

“a man hit your car from the side, he fell asleep just one second and lost control of his car” Moira said

“Is he okay?”

“yeah, he has some injuries as well as both of you, but he’s okay, your dad and I… we talked with him yesterday afternoon, after knowing that both of you would be okay”

“and what did he say” Oliver knew his mother, she was a lioness with her children, but he knew that it was a mistake that anybody could’ve made, he wasn’t angry with that man. it had been just an accident

“That he was sorry” she answered honestly, “he wanted to apologize, said that he was coming back from a night shift at work and that he hadn’t noticed that he had closed his eyes, that he was grateful that both of you were okay, and that if we needed anything from him, he would do it”

“wow”

“Tommy has decided to not press charges, are you okay with that?” Oliver nodded with his head, but just once, as he felt a new wave of pain from the movement, Moira smiled and kissed his forehead and then looked at the three kids asleep on the couch

“they wouldn’t leave, not for a minute, since you were brought to your room”

“they’re the best”

Moira called the nurse that made him some question and checked on his vitals, and said that it al seemed normal and the doctor would go as soon as he could.

He had been talking with his mother about five minutes when Thea opened her eyes and let out a squeal

“Oliver! You’re awake!” with what she woke up Tommy and Felicity, that jump in their seats. The three of them were immediately by his bed, the girls hugging him, albeit cautiously while Tommy looked at him with a small smile scratching his head with his arm not in a cast

“I’m so glad you are okay!” then she furrowed her brows “you are okay, right?” Oliver chuckled

“yes Thea, I’m okay”

“Good!” she said with a big smile “I was so scared when they told me about your accident, I thought I was going to lose my brothers”

“you are not going to lose anyone speedy” his baby sister had earned her nickname cause she was the faster in everything, except when it came to talk, Felicity won in that area.

“told you not to call me that!”

“if the shoe fits” Oliver smiled again as his sister hugged him again, and maybe she did hurt him a little, but he didn’t really mind. His eyes went to his best friend again

“hey man, how are you? mom said you broke your wrist”

“yeah, it seems that I held the steering wheel to hard…” he said weaving his arm “listen man, I’m sorry, I couldn’t” but Oliver didn’t let him finish

“nothing of that Tommy, it was an accident, if it were me driving it would’ve happen the same thing, so no worries ok?” Tommy smiled, truthfully this time.

But that smile was cut short as the door opened and both their fathers walked through the door. Oliver looked at them and then at Tommy again and he notices the mood change in the young man.

“Oliver! You mother said you were awake! how are you feeling?”

“great dad! I mean I have a headache and my shoulder hurts a little but I’m ok”

“I’m glad you are okay Oliver” Malcolm intervened, too serious for Oliver likeness, which meant he had something in mind “maybe now you can talk some sense into your friend here”

“what do you mean?”

“I’m trying to convince my son that you should press charges against the man that put you in here, he is an irresponsible man, and should face the consequences of his acts! But Tommy here, is against that” Oliver looked at Tommy, and then at his mother, and square his shoulders as much as he could

“I’m afraid I’m not gonna be able to help you with that Malcolm, I talked with my mom about this already, and I don’t really know what Tommy thinks, cause I didn’t have time to talk to him, but I .. I think it was an accident, what happened to that man could have happened to anyone, including me or Tommy going to school half asleep, so no, I don’t want to press charges either”

“but”

“that’s it Malcolm” Robert said to his friends “we said we’d let them decide what to do, and that’s what they did” Malcolm Merlyn looked at them and walked away from the room, only them Tommy breathed again

“Thank you for that”

“it is the right thing to do and, besides, when have you know me for being on your dad’s side?” the friends laugh and the air cleared after the little confrontation.

Oliver looked at Felicity that hadn’t said a word yet, and for her, well, that was unusual, to say the least

“hey” he smiled at her, and saw that her eyes were red, signal that she had been crying, and even though she smiled back, he could tell that she wasn’t well. He had noticed that Malcolm hadn’t spared her even a glance, but Felicity was sadly used to that, so it couldn’t be it “you okay?” he knew that with Felicity it was better to ask, even if you alñready knew the answer

“yeah... I was just. I was scared, and then... yesterday dad didn’t want me to come to see you guys, and...”

“what? Why?” he didn’t understand

“she said I was too young to come see you after something like that and that I would see you when you came back home”

"But he did let you at the end right, cause mom said you slept here"

“well.." she said, shyly, and looked away from him. "Not exactly”

“What do you mean by that?” Oliver frowned

“she means that she run away, skipped classes, because dad had her taken to school and came here walking from there” Tommy explained to him, looking at his little sister with what Oliver could say was a proud smile

“it’s at least 2 miles from here” Oliver said, surprised. it was a lot to walk for a little girl

“three and a half, but I didn’t mind” Felicity shrugged and looked down “I wanted to see you”

“Malcolm wasn’t too please when he received a call from the school, but as soon as she got here we called him and told him, we would take care of her” Moira smiled at the blonde girl, and thought how proud of her daughter Rebecca would be.

“you are incredible Felicity” Oliver said with a smile, at the same time that Tommy and Thea nodded with their heads “come here” he raised his good arm so he could hug her as soon as she was within his reach

It was in that moment, when Laurel opened the door to the room

 


	13. Who do you love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What is really Laurel's problem??

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey! i'm back earlier than i thought! I've been able to write a little these past few days so i could finish this,thank you to all of you that wished me a good trip, New York was amazing, it was one of the best days of my life, I even went to the Jimmy fallon show! well, I'm in a hurry so, no more personal things, there you go, a new chapter that I think you will like, I like it at least, don't doubt to leave your comments in anycase, if you hate it i can learn from it too.

# 13\. Who do you love

Laurel’s face change as soon as she saw Oliver hugging Felicity. Her expression went from worried to angry faster than anyone would’ve imagine it was possible. Oliver smiled at his girlfriend and didn’t notice how fast felicity was to get away from him as soon as she saw Laurel.

“Laurel hi!” Oliver said to her as she approached his bed and sat on the spot that felicity had left empty

His mom said that she was getting some coffee with a wink to Oliver that knew that she didn’t want to intrude.

Maybe it was Tommy’s imagination but he would’ve swear that she looked proud of the fact that she had taken his little sister’s place, as Laurel looked at her with arrogance. He thought that it was very obvious that she was marking her territory and that the only thing left was for her to lick Oliver’s face or something like that. He couldn’t help but roll his eyes.

“Ollie, I was so worried about you! I came as soon as your mom called me to told me what happened”

“It’s okay Laurel, I’m okay, I just have some bruises” he said with a smile

“Your mom said you had a concussion!”

“Luckily his head is so hard as a rock” Tommy joked, but Laurel didn’t laugh

“This isn’t a joke Tommy! A head injury is very serious, out should take it more seriously!”

“Yeah well, not this time Laurel, the nurse told him that he’s okay, and that he’ll probably be released as soon as the doctor comes “Tommy told her in a more serious tone

@whatever, I hope that the man that did this to you gets what he deserves” and added with a face of disgust “some people shouldn’t be allowed to drive”

“what are you talking about?” Tommy asked her

“well, with lawyers like the ones your dads have he will be facing some serious charges@

“we are not going to press charges Laurel” Tommy sentenced

“what?” she looked at Oliver, but he denied with his head “but he crashed his car into yours! he could’ve kill you!”

“But he didn’t” Oliver intervened “It was just an accident”

“he was sleepy, he closed his eyes for a moment and lost control of his car, it could’ve happen to me easily” Tommy was getting mad, the truth was that lately it was harder to him being near Laurel, she was getting into his nerves. Her attitude with Felicity was hard to ignore. He hadn’t said anything to Oliver, of course.

“I still think you should sue him, if he’s sleepy, he can sleep in his car, or in the floor for all I care, but you can’t drive. “

“we saw him yesterday” Felicity said “he said that he had been working all night and that he was going to pick up his daughter to take her to school when they had the accident. He said that he was very sorry, and that he was glad that the boys didn’t have any mayor injury, that he would’ve never forgive himself” her eyes went from Laurel to Tommy and Oliver that didn’t know that she had witnessed the conversation

Oliver smiled at Felicity, seeing his blonde princess (he still called her that in his head sometimes) defending a man that she barely knew just because she thought it was the right thing to do, showed how big her heart was

“he looked like a nice man who was very sorry to me”

“yeah well, nobody asked you, and I think that a little girl like you should stay out of thing like this that scape her understanding don’t you think? “Oliver and Tommy looked at her surprised but scowling, what?? “In fact, why don’t you and Thea go take a walk so I can kiss my boyfriend without minors looking? “

Tommy, and surprisingly Thea were ready to answer her, while Felicity just looked down to her feet. Oliver raised his voice, just a little to interrupt his friend and sister, before they said anything

“Tommy” the three of the looked at him, surprised with the tone of his voice “why don’t you take the girls and you go to get me something for breakfast, I’m hungry and I’m sure whatever they’re gonna feed me I here isn’t going to be eatable”

“are you sure?” Tommy looked confused

“Yes, please, I want to talk with Laurel”

“OK, as you want Oliver” then he looked to the girls “let’s go get something yummy”

“thank you, girls,! Felicity you know my favorites, right?” she smiled timidly and nodded with her head. He winked at her before the three of them went out the door.

As soon as it closed he would’ve swear that he could hear Thea complaining but he was too angry to really pay attention. He looked at Laurel and, to his surprise she was smiling at him, and getting close to kiss him, but he turned his head and avoided the kiss

“what the hell Laurel?” she went back, surprised

“what? I was going to kiss you!”

“no, not that, I’m taking about what you said to Felicity what was that for? “

“Oh, come on! That girl is always in the middle of things, always has something to say about everything, even if it’s not of her concern, it gets to my nerves!”

“Laurel why do you dislike her so much? The truth please”

“Cause she’s always around you!”

“What?”

“she has the biggest crush on you I have ever seen! And you don’t even care! She’s always around you and you just… you let her. You are always paying her attention, even more than me!” Oliver didn’t answer he was too stunned to say anything, so she kept talking. “I gave you a necklace in our anniversary and you barely use it, and she gives you a poor excuse of a bracelet, and you’ve never take it off”

_It was his seventeen birthday and after his favorite breakfast -pancakes with strawberries and blueberries from Raisa- his family had gathered in the living room to give him his presents. His mom went first with a bunch of clothes and a watch that they had seen a few weeks ago passing by a store, it was a surprise to him, because he hadn’t think his mom noticed he liked it, he never said about it, nor did she, so to know that she knew him so well to know without a word that he had liked something, was amusing. He loved the watch, his mom always did useful gifts, it was her style, and he didn’t mind._

_Next was his dad’s turn. He had got him the new play station with 3 games and the accessories to ply them. It had even had buzzers so the four of them could play at the same time. But his dad also told him that the present had a condition, he could only use it after finishing his homework and only if his grades were good, Robert wouldn’t accept it being a distraction from his obligations. Oliver rolled his eyes at his dad, he was seventeen but was always been controlled by him._

_Tommy had gotten him a leather jacket, the whole Queen Discography and the promise to throw him a party that same weekend._

_Thea had given him tickets for a baseball game of his favorite team – the yankees- that she said Moira had helped with, l and a ceramic cup that she had made for him in one of her classes_

_When it was Felicity’s turn Oliver saw how she looked at the little package in her hands, as if she was wondering whether to give it to him or not_

_“Felicity?”_

_“I don’t know if you’re going to like it” she said with red cheeks “it’s silly”_

_“I’m sure it’s not silly, and we will never know if I like it if I can’t see it”_

_She nodded with her head and give it to him. When he opened the little box, he found a black and green leather bracelet braided in a complicated but beautiful way, with the letters OQ in silver in the center, it was beautiful_

_“Felicity I love it! Wow!”  He saw her eyes shine when he said it_

_“really?” she asked 2 because I wasn’t sure... I didn’t have money and I your mom offered to help but I wanted to give you something from me you know and...”_

_“wait, you made it yourself?” she nodded with her head enthusiastically “how?”_

_“I bought the leathers and learned from a book that I found at the library”_

_“she’s been practicing for weeks!” Thea added, making her friend even more blushed_

_“thank you, Felicity, I really do love it” as he said it, he tied the knot on his left wrist with a big smile._

“Okay, so what?” Oliver said, an angry tone etching his voice

“what? You don’t care?”

“That Felicity may have a crush on me? No, why would I? Laurel, she is Tommy’s sister, I’ve known her and loved her since she was a baby, maybe she has a crush on me, and maybe she doesn’t but… even if she does that it’s not a thing that can be controlled, and she isn’t acting on it”

“so, it really doesn’t worry you?

“what really worries me is that my girlfriend is jealous of a 13-year-old girl laurel, and that you felt like you had a right to treat her like crap just because you were jealous of her!”

“but” Oliver didn’t let her speak

“no, Laurel, there is no but here, even if you are right, and she does like me, why would it bother you?”

“because you are my boyfriend!”

“and? She never acted on that so-called crush, never said a thing and you were always cold and distant with her when she didn’t deserve it!” he was getting angry, he couldn’t believe that! Was the reason of laurel’s behavior “I am not your property laurel and the truth is, right now, you are being more like a child than her”

“how can you say that?”

“it’s the truth, you are jealous and possessive, but you really need to have one thing clear. Felicity is my family, and she is always going to be in my life, so you better get used to it” laurel’s face went pale “if you want this relationship to work out you better get used to the idea of Felicity being close, if not, we have a problem”

“are you really telling me that if I don’t treat that brat well, you would break up with me? Over a little girl?”

“she is my family Laurel, and there is nothing more important than that, I’m sorry”

“she is Tommy’s sister, not yours”

“that never really mattered to me” he said with a little smile, remembering his 5-year-old self with a doll in his hands “I told you, she is family” he repeated, trying for her to understand. He looked at the clock in the wall and saw that soon Tommy, Thea and Felicity would be back “I think you should go laurel”

“what? Why?”

“because they are coming back soon and I don’t want Felicity to feel uncomfortable or to Tommy to said the things he wants to say, cause I assure you, he won’t be as polite as I was, after all, she is his little sister”  
I can’t believe you are kicking me out of your room for her sake”

“if I’m being honest, it’s also for me, right now, I’m so angry with you laurel, what you did to her, it’s better if we stay away for a few days”

“are you breaking up with me?”

“no, but I don’t want to see you right now either” he said with a serious face that laurel didn’t expect “let me have a few days for myself okay, and I promise I’ll call you, but you need to think about what you are going to do from now on, because I love you, you know I do, but I can’t fix this for you, and you need to fix it”

Laurel looked angry but didn’t say a thing, she just got up from her seat and the bed’s foot and went to the door without a word, but with a bang of the door.

When she was out the door, Oliver left out a breath he hadn’t know he was holding, that talk with laurel had been hard, but. Wow. He couldn’t stop thinking about what had just happened. Not only about the fact that laurel was jealous of Felicity, but the fact that in his head there had not been a single moment of doubt that, if laurel made him choose, he would choose Felicity. It was true, there was really no choice to make, but the problem was that it should be, it should eat him from inside to have to choose between his girlfriend and someone else. He loved Laurel, they had been dating for years now, but even the thought of not having his little princess in his life... no, that was unthinkable, and really hurtful.

In a sense it grounded him, it was true what he had said to laurel, he did love Felicity, he had since the first time he saw her in Rebecca’s arms, maybe it wasn’t the same kind of love but that didn’t make it less meaningful

It was in the middle of this thoughts that the nurse came in with the doctor. After a few questions and tests,. The doctor said he wanted to talk to his mother bout giving him the release papers in a few hours. Meanwhile the nurse took out all the cables and needles that were in his arms.

It hadn’t been a minute after she left when Tommy and Thea came throught the door carrying breakfast

“Finally! I’m starving” his smile faltered as soon as he noticed that Felicity wasn’t following them “wait, where’s Felicity?”

“she’s being an idiot outside2 Thea said, in an angry tone, and probably loud enough for Felicity to hear her. Oliver furrowed

“she doesn’t want to enter, she thinks you’re going to be mad at her, and even though we tried to tell her that you wouldn’t she doesn’t believe us”Tommy explained, but Oliver was as confused as before

“what? Why?”

“we.. ran into laurel on our way here” Tommy said, colder than a second before “and man.. if looks could kill..”

“then Tommy wouldn’t have a little sister anymore” Thea finished for him

“What?” he couldn’t believe it, after all that he said to laurel, she kept on going just the same

“so now, Felicity is convinced that you are going to be angry with her because you had a fight with your girlfriend because of her” Thea rolled her eyes at Tommy’s statement

In less than a minute Oliver knew what he had to do

, he sat up, and turned so his legs were dangling off the bed

“Tommy, I’m gonna need your help man” his friend looked at him confused “I don’t have crutches, so I need your help to stand up”

“Oliver what are you talking about, you can’t walk on that ankle”

“That’s why I’m asking you for help!” he looked at Tommy, getting impatient “come on man, I need to talk to her!”

“but, Laurel is probably near her house right now...”

“what? no!! I don’t want to talk to Laurel, I want to talk with Felicity! Now, are you going to help me or do I have to hop on one foot?”

It took a moment for Tommy to recover, but when he did he jumped to help his friend, that by now was trying to stand up by himself. As they walked, slowly but surely, Tommy looked at his friend and smile He was happy to know that Oliver was so worried about Felicity, cause it meant that his little sister had in her side the best friend she could, and he was glad for her.

With Oliver leaning his good shoulder on Tommy’s good arm the crossed the door that Thea had just opened for them and soon, they saw Felicity, on one of the chairs of the hallway, looking down at her hands. 

She must’ve heard them, cause she suddenly looked up and, when she saw Oliver leaning on Tommy, trying not to put pressure in his ankle, her eyes opened widely

“Oliver what are you doing up? You should be in bed, or at least in your room!”

“well” Oliver sat beside her with an Oomph “you wouldn’t come in, so I had to come out” . Tommy took a step back and watch from that spot, not really knowing what his friend would say to her

“But why?” she asked him, clearly not understanding

“You know Felicity, I am disappointed with you” she looked up at him, and he could see the tears threatening to fall “I really thought you were the smartest of us all”

“what?”

“look, Whatever issues Laurel and I have, they are our issues, and you never have to feel guilty, or think that I will be mad at you”

“But, Laurel, she is your girlfriend, she is important to you”

“and so are you, and I’m sorry, I didn’t notice earlier how she was treating you, but you have to know that’s not your fault, she is the one with a problem okay? You don’t have to be worried about that”

As Oliver talked, Tommy saw his sister starting to smile at Oliver, and it was the first time, that the thought of his best friend having feelings for his little sister didn’t seem so crazy.


	14. Come what may

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> after the hospital something is happening with the girls

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!! Already here!! this chapters comes a little sooned than i expected, but i thinks that's good. first of all, THANK YOU! I had a ton of comments in my last chapter ( yes for me 10 in a ton hehe) and I cound't be more happy that you are liking this fic, I promise, i´m writing it with all my love.   
> Okay, so, I like the chapter, I think it's a little short, but I like the way i ended it.As to what's to come next, I think it's next to last until another time jump. It explores a little more in the head of our protagonists and leaves a little mystery if you are paying attention hehehe  
> I really hope you like it, and to be here with the next one soon  
> LOTs of Love!!!

The next weeks were a little chaotic for the queens and the merlin. With Tommy’s hand and Oliver foot and shoulder neither were able to drive and with finals less than a month away, Robert found himself driving them back and forth between the library and their houses. He lasted about four days before he assigned one of his drivers to move them around 

The boys spent two weeks between high-school the library and the queen manor, they always studied there cause Tommy still didn’t like the new house and sometimes, Dig and Laurel would joined them to study together 

Three days after Oliver was released from the hospital Laurel had gone to his house to talk with Oliver, she had apologized for her behavior and promised to change, and although the Oliver had notice that she hadn’t apologized to Felicity and that maybe her words weren’t as honest as he hoped, it was a first step. She was still his girlfriend and he loved her so he thought he ought to give her another chance 

He wanted to know if Laurel would change with Felicity but he never really got the chance. 

And the truth was, he didn’t think much about it, later he would excuse himself thinking that he was too stressed with his finals to notice anything that happened around him, but even he knew that it wasn’t a good excuse 

Luckily finals ended and he and his friends were able to relax a little 

As they had been able to get rid of their cast two days before their exams, now, just two days before attending their graduation Oliver, Tommy, Laurel, her sister Sara, diagnosed, ant the late addition to their group, Layla, Digs girlfriend, were relaxing by the pool in the queen house 

And then, out of nothing, Layla changed everything with just a question 

“Hey boys, where are Thea and Felicity? What never see the little monsters anymore” 

“yeah” dig nodded “kinda miss them around to be honest” Oliver looked at Tommy and he looked as dumbfounded as he felt 

“they’ve been studying a lot…  I think” and even he sounded unsure of his words cause the truth was that, going back in his head to the past few weeks there had not been a moment that the girls were with them at the same time as their friends, they still saw their sisters, of course, but not nearly as much as they used to. He could see that Tommy was doing the same process in his head... had they been so focused in themselves that they hadn’t notice the absence of their sisters? He felt a pang of guilt in his chest, just after he told Felicity how important she was to him he had neglected them. 

“why don’t you go get them?” dig asked them “I wanted to thank Felicity for the help she gave me in algebra” 

“they are at my house” Tommy said, and the moment the words were out of his mouth they knew that something wasn’t right. It was so weird the girls had decide to stay at the merlin house, they hated that house. How neither of them hadn’t noticed? Oliver felt awful, he let himself fall back on his lounger, his hands over his face 

“Fuck” 

“and the award for the worst Brothers goes to... “Tommy sighed 

“you are exaggerating” Laurel added suddenly “I don’t think it’s a big deal they really need to be with people their age, and leave us alone a little, besides” 

“Laurel please, shut up” Tommy exploded, after everything he was tired of her he didn’t want to hear anything that she had to say about his sister, because he was sure she had something to do with what was happening. Laurel looked at him with wide eyes and then looked at Oliver 

“Aren’t you going to say something? “ 

“he said please, didn’t he? “Laurel’s eyes opened till she looked like a cartoon 

@I can’t believe you I’m your girlfriend” 

“we already talked about this Laurel, I’m not going to tell you again how things are going to be “his eyes hardened as he talked, he was done with that attitude. 

Laurel huffed and got up 

“let’s go Sara!” 

“you can go, I’m good here” Sara said as she relaxed even more into her seat but the pool as everyone watched a very red Laurel grab her things and go to into the house. When they heard her car starting, they all looked at Sara again 

“what? She may be my sister but that doesn’t mean that I have to support her jealousy for a 13-year-old that never has done anything to bother her and whose only sin is being in her boyfriend’s life before her” 

That was the comment that opened more months and eyes, Oliver hadn’t told anyone about that conversation with Laurel because he thought it would only get everyone mad at her, clearly that didn’t matter to Sara. 

“what do you mean jealous?” Tommy asked first, but he wasn’t looking at Sara, he was looking at Oliver who passed his hand over his face again before answering 

“Laurel is convinced that Felicity has a crush on me” 

“That’s the reason she’s been a bitch to my little sister?” Oliver could only nod with his head “that chick is crazy” 

“I talked with Laurel about this, I told her that it was ridiculous I mean I don’t know if it’s true but, even if it were, it doesn’t really matter to me, it doesn’t change anything” 

“I can’t understand, let’s suppose that it’s true, that Felicity does like him, why would Laurel feel threatened by a 13-year-old? It doesn’t make any sense” Layla added 

@I tried Talking to my sister a million times about this but she doesn’t see reason, she sees red everything that Felicity is near you” 

“well, she better get used to the color then Sara, I told her I’m not going to leave Felicity aside just because your sister wants me to” Tommy smiled at his friend, proud of him and the decisions he was making lately 

“hey, I can understand that, as I said, the only thing Felicity is guilty for, is being in your life before Laurel, I know she is my sister but that doesn’t mean I understand her. “ 

They all chuckled and fell silent for a moment before the conversation went to other places, but Oliver couldn’t stop thinking about Thea and Felicity. 

That night Oliver went to pick up Thea at Tommy’s house, so they could talk to the girls about the situation 

“what do you mean she’s asleep? “ 

“I mean, big brother, that we were watching TV in her room and he fell asleep, so I turned down the TV and came downstairs, I don’t think is that difficult to understand” 

Oliver looked at his friend and they made a decision 

“then you will have to answer a few questions” they sat down with Thea, one on each side “what’s happening with you and Felicity lately?” she looked at her brother looking confused 

“what do you mean?” 

“come on Speedy” Tommy said “we’ve barely seen you the past few weeks, and don’t tell me it’s normal for you to stay here, Felicity hates this house just as much as I do” Thea sighed, she knew they had been caught 

“she doesn’t want to…”  she trailed 

@to what Speedy? “ 

“to be with Laurel OK? She knows that your girlfriend doesn’t like her, and how could she not? You don’t need to be a genius to figure out that one” 

“Thea, I told Felicity, I don’t want her to feel bad for this. That is Laurel’s problem Felicity shouldn’t care about how Laurel may feel because of her” 

No, no you don’t get it, we don’t really care about how that bitch may feel” 

“Thea!!!” both boys said at the same time 

“what? It’s the truth, you may be blind, but I’m not and Felicity is my best friend, it’s hard to see how your girlfriend treats her, but that’s not the point…  the thing is that we don’t care about how Laurel feels, Felicity doesn’t want to bother you!” she pointed at Oliver “she doesn’t what you to feel uncomfortable” 

“why would I be uncomfortable? “ 

“cause Laurel, is still your girlfriend Oliver, and Felicity doesn’t want you to have to choose, so she thinks that if we don’t go out with you, it will be better for everyone” she looked down, sad “I thought it was silly but until now, you didn’t even notice that we weren’t there, so maybe, it wasn’t that silly”

“Speedy, this month has been a big chaos with the accident, finals and everything, but apart for that, nothing changed. I’m sorry we made you feel that way, you are our sisters and you are the most important thing for us, we still want you to go out with us, I’m really sorry that you thought we didn´t care, cause we really do” Oliver hugged his sister tightly and when he let go of her Tommy did the same, Oliver felt awful

I promise, tomorrow I will talk to Felicity about this too”

“you can do it now if you want”

“ I thought you said”

“I lied, she’s awake, she doesn’t lie too well, so we thought that if you saw her you would see that she wasn’t telling the truth, but it isn’t like it went better our way..” Oliver got up from his seat

“Tommy, coming?” he asked his friend, that remained next to Thea

“I think it’s better if you go talk to her” Oliver nodded, but he knew there was something that his friend wasn’t saying, but he trusted him and knew also, that he had his reasons, so he went upstairs and knocked on Felicity’s door.

When she didn’t answer he tried again, louder, but still didn’t get a response, so he knocked again at the same time that he opened the door

“Felicity?” he said in a soft voice just in case that in the time they talk with Thea Felicity had fallen asleep for real. But as he looked into the room he saw that Felicity was sitting in her bed, with her laptop in her lap, looking at him confused.

“Oliver what are you doing here?”

“I anted to talk with you”

“did something happen?”

“No but…” he stopped, arranging the words in his head before speaking “I wanted to apologize, as I’m sure Tommy will do when he sees you”

“apologized for what?”

“because we didn’t notice you weren’t there” he finished with theas words, because he didn’t found a better way to say it “this past weeks, we´ve been so focused on ourselves that we didn´t notice, and I know that is not an excuse, but I really am sorry”

“It’s okay, I understand it” she said, with her shoulders up

“no it’s not okay, and neither is the fact that you think that you can´t come along with Tommy and I just because of Laurel” Felicity’s faces changed for a second before realization dumped on her

“Thea... I thought she was the one that knew how to lie”

“Don’t be mad at her, I´m glad she told us, because this way I can told you how wrong you are”

“what do you mean?” Felicity’s brows were drawn together

“I mean that what you and Thea have been doing these weeks has to stop”

“it’s not what you think”

“Thea explained very clearly to me, and I know you, so, yes, it is exactly what I think, you don’t want to make me choose, but the thing is Felicity, there is no choice to make, you are my friend, if Laurel doesn’t understand that, if she makes me choose, maybe I shouldn’t be with her”

“You don’t mean that, I´m just Tommy´s sister, she is your girlfriend”

“I thought we already cleared this when I was in the hospital, Felicity you are much more than that, you are my family. In two days Tommy and I are graduating, and I want you and Thea there, and in my house at the party that we are throwing after”

“Are you sure”? Laurel”

“Leave Laurel to me” he winked at her “I don`t want you to worry about that okay?” she nodded with her head “come here” he opened his arms and she went almost flying to give him a hug”

Oliver smiled with a little sadness, he hadn’t want to talk about that, but the truth was, that in a few months he and Tommy would be going to college, at and he wanted to seize this weeks with them, cause of one thing he was sure, he was going to miss them.


	15. From This moment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Graduation party!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! so, I have good news and bad news, the good news are, I'm here again with a new chapter!!! the bad.. that its really short, and.. well you'll see.  
> Love you all so much for all your comments and kudos!!! there we go!

Two days later the Boys graduated from high school with an acceptance letter from Harvard, so they would be moving to Massachusetts in a few weeks. As they took their diplomas from the principal they could hear the Queen family plus Felicity cheering for them - Malcolm, had said he had a very important meeting at the office and that he wouldn’t be attending. After they had invited almost everyone to the party in the Queen backyard and said goodbye to some teachers they all went to eat at a fancy restaurant to celebrate their graduation.

After Oliver had talk to Felicity and Tommy to Thea, things had come back to the way they were before, and the girls couldn´t be happier to be again with their brothers. Both girls had friends of their own of course, and it was fun to be with them, -they had even invited some to the party that afternoon, cause they would be graduating next day and it was easier that way- but for them nothing was better than spending time with Oliver and Tommy.

When the girls entered the party after changing their clothes for something more comfortable-it was a pool party after all- they were greeted by Sara, Dig and Lyla who welcomed them back to their group while laurel stood aside without saying a word, just sitting next to Oliver. Felicity notices it but she was determined, she had to remember Oliver´s words and enjoy her time with him and Tommy, so maybe if laurel didn’t want to talk to her it wasn´t a bad thing after all.

From almost the star of the party there was two differenced groups, or rather three. There was o with classmates of Felicity and Thea that stayed a little away from the rest, one formed with Oliver’s and Tommy´s friends, and one in the middle, with people of all ages.

At first, they had been concerned to have such an age gap in their guests 11 to 18, but the truth was that everybody was getting along and seemed to be having a good time.

The party was awesome, there was a bar and a barbecue that served all kind of delicious things, a DJ, that for the girls delight, was throwing some backstreet boys´s songs into the mix… people were dancing, some were playing a mini-game of soccer, but most of the people were gathered around the pool, where the hosts had their seats reserved.

Felicity and Thea had just returned to the lounge area next to the pool, where Tommy and Oliver were, after talking to their classmates for a while when Thea said she wanted to go into the pool.

“Go ahead” Felicity said, with a move of her head as she lied back on her seat

“you’re not coming?” Thea asked her friend, already knowing that the only reason Felicity was wearing a bikini was to keep up appearances, she wouldn’t be getting into the pool.

“I’m good here trying to get a little of a tan!” Felicity smiled, but Thea knew the truth.

 Felicity wouldn’t go into the pool because she had never really learned how to swim.  

She went into the pool at summer of course, but only where her feel could touch the bottom, and her head was clear of water, If Oliver or Tommy were with her she would venture a little more, because the were always there supporting her and making her feel safe, but that was it. They had tried to teach her sometimes, but the blonde always said that it scared her and that it was enough for her as it was, so they didn’t pressure her for more, it was her decision to make.

Tommy and Oliver looked at the exchange, knowing exactly the reason Felicity didn’t want to go to the pool, she didn’t want to risk anyone knowing that she couldn’t swim. So they didn’t say a word to any of them.

Thea finally went into the pool with Dig and Lyla, leaving Felicity with her sunglasses on, getting a tan on her lounge as she had said, but as the blonde girl looked at Thea, she felt ashamed, she knew she couldn’t lie to Thea, but she really didn’t want the whole school that she didn’t know how to swim, and it would be too weird if she stayed at the shallow end of the pool as she did when they were alone, so she excused herself to her friends with things like ´the water is too cold for me´ or `I just want to relax a little today´ and felt better that way.

An hour later Felicity was still on her lounger, alone with Thea that had returned from the pool about five minutes ago when she started feeling too hot, so she decided to go for a drink and she turned to her best friend

“I´m going to get a soda do you want something?”

“no thank you, I’m fine” Thea shake her head

“okay, be back soon”

A little while after Tommy, Oliver joined Thea on the lounges, Laurel, Sara, Dig and Lyla after them

“hey Thea, enjoying the party?” Sara asked

“yeah, it’s great!”

“I think we should take a photo” Did proposed 2we are going to college nest semester and this kind of thing is going to be much harder"

“hey, that’s a great idea! Let’s do it!” laurel said enthusiastically

“not so fast laurel, Felicity’s not here” Tommy answered her, annoyed

“speaking of her, where is she?”

“she went to grab something to drink, I guess she got distracted because that was a while ago” she just realized that her friend should have been back by then

“I’ll go get her so we could take the photo” Tommy got up from his seat and went to searching for his sister

He was near the bar at the other end of the backyard when he heard a splash of water, he had heard a lot during the day, but this one was different, it was like after the splash everyone had fallen silent, until Tommy heard a scream that froze his blood and stopped his heart

“Felicity!!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please, don't hate me


	16. Breathe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise! another chapter, and yes this one is on the short side too, but I didn't feel like doing it longer, mostly because my muse is evading me and i can't seem to write one more word.. so, there you go! i hope you like it and comment, or comment if you don't like it! Thank you all for your commenst and kudos, it means the world to me !!!

# 16\. Breathe

 

Oliver was talking with his Friends when he Heard the splash of someone jumping into the pool and some laughter, but he didn’t really give it much thought given it had been a nearly constant until all laughter and chapter around the pool ceased and the sound of splatting water filled the air.

He looked to the pool and at first,  all seemed normal, he was about to ask when he saw it. There, at the farther end of the pool, the deeper one… Suddenly it was like the scene in front of him was happening in slow motion. He heard – oh so clearly- the gasp that left Felicity’s mouth as she tried to take a breath while she kept trying to stay above the water, he saw with horror the panic in her eyes in the mere second that her head was over the surface before she went down again, and this time, she didn’t come back up

Later Tommy would say that he heard him scream her name, but the truth was that Oliver didn’t remember that, he only remembered jumping into the water as soon as his body responded to his screaming mind. When he saw her under the water, she wasn´t moving anymore, the body of Felicity limp in the water was something that would plague his nightmares months later.

He grabbed Felicity under her arms and lifted her with him taking impulse with his legs to take them both to the surface. Once he had her secure and her head off the water, he called her name, but when she didn’t answer panic started to run through his body. She hadn’t been under the water so much time … right?

He called for help for someone to help him get her out of the pool, when he looked up he saw a pale,  wide eye Tommy picking up his little sister in his arms.

As Oliver went out of the pool he could hear Tommy’s voice

“Oh my god, Felicity... Felicity” Tommy’s words sounded raw and choked, he was clearly shocked as he laid her on the floor near the pool

Oliver could tell Thea was crying behind them, but he couldn’t look away from the unconscious blonde in front of him

“Oliver... is she…” His friend couldn’t even finish the sentence but it was better that way, cause just the thought would make Oliver go crazy, he felt for her pulse on her neck and found it, it was weak, but it was there. But as he went to check her breathing… nothing, Felicity wasn’t breathing.

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes for half a second, trying to remember the first aid classes that he and Tommy had took years ago.

He lifted up her chin with one hand and close her nose with the other

“come on princess, breathe”

He blew air into her mouth once, twice, before Felicity started to cough

Oliver fell back on his knees with his eyes closed and a sigh, as Tommy help her get on her side so she could cough all the water out of her lungs. When Felicity opened her eyes, Oliver felt like he could breathe again.

He looked up and saw Thea hugging Dig, who was keeping her face away for all that was happening, he looked at his friend in gratitude, whom nodded at him.

Tommy hugged his sister who still laid on the floor looking a little disoriented

 In that moment two men that looked like paramedics came through the door, followed by Moira and Raisa who gasped when they saw who was on the floor.

Soon the paramedics whisked Tommy and Oliver away so they could attend on Felicity,, Tommy stayed close but Oliver got up to go to his sister, that was still crying.

“It’s okay Speedy, Felicity is going to be okay” Thea hugged him tightly as their mother approached

“Oliver, what happened?” Moira asked clearly agitated

“I don’t know mom, we were talking and she went to get a drink I think, and the next thing I know is that she was in the pool”

“Who took her out? ”

“I did, before I could think of it I was already in the water and... she wasn’t breathing and I…”

“well” she said with a little smile, watching the paramedics smiling at the blonde girl “it seems like you did a good job Oliver, look” Oliver turned to where his mother was pointing with her finger and saw Felicity slowly sitting up, she was probably embarrassed and a little overwhelmed, but she seemed to be fine, he smiled a little, “I’m gonna talk with them... and then, I’ll have to talk to Malcolm about this...” she sighed

“Thea why don’t you go with mom, I’m sure Felicity will be glad to see you” his sister nodded and followed her mother, before he turned again to his friends

“who called the paramedics?” he asked, only just realizing that he hadn’t done it

“I did” Lyla answered, “when I saw that she was not awake once you got her out of the water. They were pretty fast to be honest...”

“thank you, Lyla”

“Well, I think, the party is over” Dig said beside his girlfriend

“why?” Laurel asked “she seems okay!  and it’s still early”

“Laurel” Oliver cut her “the party is over” he wasn’t in the mood to celebrate anything, not when every time he closed his eyes, he saw Felicity, laying there, not breathing.

“I’ll go tell everyone, I’m sure they`ll understand” Dig said, glaring at laurel

“we`ll help you” Sara and Lyla went with him and started to talk with their guests,

"I’m going to go to the bathroom” he said to laurel, before almost running to the nearest bathroom. As soon as he closed the door behind him, he hurled himself over the toilet and threw up everything that could possibly be in his stomach

After spending several minutes dry heaving, he was able to get up, and freshen himself up, so he could go out the door again.

Out the bathroom’s door he found his mother, waiting for him

“mom, how is Felicity?”

“she is okay, they are taking her to her old room, and she is going to spend the night here, because Malcolm is not at home and I’m not going to let her be with a nanny after something like this.” She took a deep breath, Oliver knew how much his mother disapproved of Malcom’s parenting. “how are you?”

“i... I don’t know mom” he confessed “I was terrified out there... I”

“my beautiful boy, that’s the most normal thing, but courage doesn’t mean to not been scared, it means that even though you are terrified, you do it nonetheless… you saved two lives today Oliver, don’t forget that” when Oliver looked at her confused, she continued “how do you think Tommy would cope if he lost his sister too...” Moira smiled and hugged him tightly “I’ so proud of you Oliver”

“thank you, mom,”

“now go, I’ll go check on Felicity again”

When he went out to the backyard again, there were still a few people left, but the majority of them had already left. He hadn’t taken two steps when he was engulfed by Tommy’s arms

“thank you” Tommy’s words were little more than a whisper but he heard him anyway

“you have nothing to thank me for” he said honestly

“you saved he Oliver, you saved my little sister, of course I have! I’ll never be able to thank you enough for what you just did... if something had happened to her I don’t...”

“there’s no need to think of that” Oliver smiled at his friend, the words stuck in his throat, he didn’t know what to say. The truth was that he had only did what his heart told him to do, he couldn’t explain to his friend the horror he had felt the moment he realized she wasn’t breathing, and that on his mind were only five words ‘please Felicity, don’t leave me’

He couldn’t say that to his best friend, so he stayed silent as they started walking to where all had happened. And even if he’d know what to say he wouldn’t have the opportunity, because another scream, this time in pure anger, filled the house

“get out of my house!! Now!!”


	17. Toxic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> who was yelling in the pool??'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!!!! here I am, again,and, first of all; i need to thank you! because the response in the last chapters has been incredible! you are all so awesome, and you can't imagine how your support makes me feel. so, as a gift, here you go, something that I think all of you have been expecting, i reallty hope you like it!!!! It's not reallu long, but I didn't want to keep you waiting too long. but, a question, for the next time what do you awesome people prefer? a short chapter that comes sooner o do you prefer to wait a little more for a longer one??

Oliver and Tommy went running to where Thea was screaming to see that the object of her anger was… Laurel 

The little girl was red with anger while laurel stood there without saying a word to defend herself 

“I told you to get out of my house!” Thea repeated 

“What’s wrong?” Oliver and Tommy stood behind Thea, the latter with his hands on the girl’s shoulders 

“Ollie your sister is kicking me out of your house! You have to tell her something!” 

“Speedy,” he said to the little girl, making her attention go to him “tell me what happened” 

“I think it’s better if your girlfriend does, Laurel, please, tell my brother what happened!”  she said, again to Laurel “tell them what Carter told me!” 

Oliver was more confused every passing minute, but he was fearing what this could possibly be about, and he didn’t like it, at all. He looked to his girlfriend, and she shrugged 

“Laurel? What is it?” he asked, trying to give the chance to come clear 

“I don’t know what your sister is talking about” but that wasn’t the correct answer as Thea became even more furious 

“you bitch! You don’t know?” Tommy was now holding Thea by her shoulders, trying to calm her “well, if you don’t know, I’ll have to tell them, don’t you think?” Then she looked at the boys, a little calmer “Carter came to talk to me earlier, before he left the party, he asked me how Felicity was, he seemed worried, and then, he asked me to apologized to her on his part, that he didn’t know” 

“what Do I have to do with that?” But Thea didn’t even looked at her as she continued her story 

“I asked him, because at first I didn’t understand, I just wanted to go back to Felicity and then he told me. That when Laurel had told him it would be fun to throw Felicity on the water, he didn’t know that she couldn’t swim or else he wouldn’t have done it” 

“what????” Laurel’s face went pale as Tommy’s grew redder by the second as Oliver’s worst fears came true, he just couldn’t believe it 

“you.. it was you!!!!” Tommy was furious, and it was completely understandable, but Oliver knew that he was the one that needed to deal with Laurel 

“Tommy” Oliver said, his voice calm, way more calmed that what he felt inside “Why don’t you take Thea and go to Felicity’s room, I bet the paramedics are already gone, and she won’t want to be alone, I’ll be there in a minute” 

“Oliver what? No! This crazy bitch... “ 

“Tommy” he cut him again looking at his friend, “trust me” Tommy seemed to understand, and took Thea by her elbow 

“let’s go Thea... she is not worth it” he looked back to Laurel and Oliver could see there was hate in his eyes, and he couldn’t blame him.

Once they were away, Laurel seemed to became alive again 

“Ollie! Let me explain it!” she tried to get closer, but Oliver took a step back 

“No Laurel, you know, I sent Tommy away because, if the roles were reversed, I’d want to kill the person that hurt my little sister, and I don’t want him to do something that he might regret” 

“but Ollie.. “ 

“Stop calling me that, I hate that nickname.”  he said, his voice colder than ever, as cold as he felt when he looked at the girl who had been his girlfriend for so long, and now, he barely recognized her “But you were going to explain it right? You said you can explain why I had to pull an unconscious 13-year-old off the water, you are going to explain why I had to reanimated Tommy’s little sister, because she wasn’t breathing right?? come on! Explain it!” 

“Look, it isn’t what you think” Laurel said, nervously “yes. I told Carter that Felicity hadn’t gone into the pool all day and that it would do her some good to freshen up a little, I told him it would be fun to push her, so she could integrate a little more in the group... “ 

“You knew she couldn’t swim laurel, I told you last year” 

“But I thought she’d just swim a little doggy style and embarrassed herself in front of everyone, I didn’t want to hurt her!” 

“You didn’t want to hurt her? No, you just wanted to humiliate her in front of all her friends, as if that’s better? Do you even hear yourself?” he was seeing red “I’m tired laurel, I tried to give you all the chances I could, but you ... you crossed every line possible today, with your little what, joke? Vengeance? You almost got her killed”. He looked at her then, and his eyes were even colder than his voice. “You heard Thea, get out of my house” 

“Oliver please” 

“No, this is over, there is no way back from there Laurel, I don’t want to see you ever again, You were so afraid that Felicity would tore us apart.. but you managed to do it all by yourself. You want to know why we hadn’t seen Felicity lately? she was staying apart because she didn’t want me to feel like I had to choose between you too. She’s only 13, and she’s been way more mature than you in all this... I can’t even look at you, you disgust me… ” Oliver turned around to go, but after two steps he stopped again to talk, without even looking at her "And I would stay away from Tommy, after all, you almost got his little sister killed. get the fuck out of my house! Goodbye laurel” 

With those words Oliver started walking again, and he never looked back as he entered his house, leaving his now ex-girlfriend standing there. 

Two minutes later and more calmed, he knocked on Felicity’s door, when he heard them answer he opened the door to find felicity on her bed, with Tommy on one side and Thea on the other. They were watching Felicity’s favorite movie, Beauty and the beast 

“hey princess” he smiled at her, “how are you feeling?” 

“I’m okay” she smiled, “but I think it may be because of the drugs” she giggled and Oliver looked at Tommy who smiled. 

“they said she was very nervous, so they gave her a mild sedative to calm her and help her to sleep better” he said, kissing the crown of Felicity’s head that rested on his chest. Oliver smiled as he tried to fit in the bed, Thea complained a little when he positioned himself between her and Felicity but as he offered his chest as a pillow she conceded and relaxed against her big brother. He copied Tommy’s gesture and kissed Thea`s head, before doing the same for Felicity

“Thank you, Oliver” she said, already half asleep 

“sleep well Princess” felicity closed her eyes with a smile and fell asleep between Oliver and Tommy, shortly followed by Thea. 

“what happened with that bitch?” Tommy asked him in a whisper, his voice hard 

“She’s out of our lives, for good this time” 

“good” he nodded, caressing his sister’s hair 

“I’m…  I’m sorry Tommy” he looked at him confused 

“what for?” his brows were drawn together, what in the hell was he apologizing for, 

“I brought Laurel into our lives,. Into her life, and look at what happened” 

“No, you don’t get to feel guilty for this Oliver, you can’t take the guilt out of Laurel’s hands. This is on laurel, no one else, not even Carter Bowen. She was the one that did this, and you could have never anticipated this, none of us could have known how crazy she really was, so don’t apologize for anything, you saved her life man” 

Felicity moved in her sleep, moving around so that she fit between the boys 

“you know?” Tommy whispered again “I know that she is okay and that I should let her sleep and get rest, but... I can’t go away” he confess “I know it’s absurd but..”

“You’re afraid she will stop breathing again” Oliver finished for him and Tommy nodded “It’s not that absurd “he said with a chuckle, as he had thought the same thing, and had the same fear 

“with my mom gone and my dad being…  my dad, she’s all the family I have, and I know that I have you and your family but...” 

“it’s not the same, I get it” 

“I just.. I don’t want her out of my sight you know? Not just yet.” 

“Well, I’m comfortable here” he smiled 

“yeah, me too” Tommy smiled back “besides, if we move, we’re going to wake them up and we don’t want that” 

“exactly” the boys fell silent as they kept watching the movie 

An hour later Moira went to check in Felicity and she found the four of them asleep on Felicity’s bed. The scene so similar to what she and Rebecca found all those years ago She smiled and closed the door, not wanting to disturb them. 

When she walked away, she thought of her dear friend, and that, even with the events of the day, she would be so happy to see the bond that had formed between those four 


	18. Every brath you take

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felicity needs help after her "accident" who will she go for?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so.. here i am, late again, this holidays have been absolute crazy between the job, the family and friends.. and to add to that, my muse didn't want to cooperate, so I had a hard time writing  
> I wish you like this chapter, I think I like it, although I'm not sure about some parts, but I didn't want you to wait anymore, so here it is. As always, thank you soo so much for all your comemnts and kudos, you are reason i keep writing! thank you!  
> OH, and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Felicity woke up to only find Thea by her side, no sign of the boys except the clear memory of snuggling between of them in the middle of the night and the whispered words of who she thought was Tommy calming her from a nightmare. She got up from the bed careful so no to wake up Thea and went into the bathroom.

When she opened the faucet to wash her face, it hit her all that had happened in the pool the day before. The surprise of feeling two hands in her back as she made her way to where Thea was, the contrast between the cold water and her hot skin, the moment she panicked when she realized she was in the deep end of the pool, the burning in her lungs when she couldn’t reach the surface to breathe properly... she felt herself gasp for air again, as if she was once again in the water, but holding tightly to the sink, she took a deep breath, and another, and tried to calm herself. She closed the water and went to alleviate herself, knowing that a shower wasn´t an option.

 She looked at the clock, it was early, but she had fallen asleep so early the day before it didn’t surprise her. She went back to the bedroom, and as Thea was still sleeping, she decided to go downstairs to get some breakfast.

As she reached the kitchen she saw Raisa cooking and Oliver eating a big plate of pancakes with orange juice

“that looks so good Raisa! Can I have the same?” she kissed Raisa’s cheek

“Of course, Miss Felicity!” The Russian woman smiled and started to make her pancakes.

 “good morning” she said as she seated next to him

“good morning princess” Felicity looked down trying to hide the blush on her face. Oliver had started to call her that lately, and it always made her blush “how are you feeling?”

“I..” she stopped herself “I don’t really know” she answered, finally “I mean, I know I should be okay because in the end nothing happened really” Raisa put her breakfast in front of her and got to other things on the kitchen letting them know without saying that they were in private.

“No one expect you to forget what happened so easily Felicity, because it was something traumatizing, I know I won’t forget it any time soon, how could you?” she looked up at him, surprised at his confession “do you want to talk about it?” she could see the concern in his blue eyes

She thought about telling him what just happened in the bathroom, maybe she should, but she didn’t want him to worry to much about her, or Tommy -because if she told him, she’d have to tell Tommy too- so she would figure it out by herself what to do, she was a genius after all right?

“no, at least… not yet” she said honestly

“that’s okay, but I want you to know I’m here if you ever need to ok? Tommy Thea and I are here for you, whatever you need” she nodded with a smile “I wanted to talk to you actually” he sighed

“about what?” she asked, her mouth full of pancakes

“I want to teach you to swim” Felicity’s eyes opened in shock and she almost choked on her food. She couldn’t wash her face without gasping for air -although he didn’t know that cause she had decide not to tell him- how would she ... nope, it wasn’t possible, mope! She shook her head

“I ... no, I don’t think...” she started

“Just... hear me out ok?” she saw the pleading in his eyes and nodded “I know that you must be scared Felicity, and I understand that, I’m not talking about going into the pool today,” he explained “but, yesterday... you scared the hell out of me... of us, and Tommy and I are going to college in a few weeks and I… we, can’t leave thinking that something like that can happen again. I know that it probably won’t, but we need to know that if something does happen and you end up in the water, you are going to be able to get out by yourself”

“I’m sorry Oliver” he looked at her, confused

“sorry? Why?”

“for scaring you and…everyone else” she admitted looking down again. She felt how Oliver turned her body towards him and then his hand was in her chin, tilting her head up

“I want you to look at me and listen very, very carefully Felicity, you never, ever have to say sorry for what happened yesterday, because it wasn’t your fault, ok?” his eyes were so intense while looking at her that she knew he meant what he was saying, it was undeniable. So, she nodded with her hear against his hand, she didn’t realize she had started crying until Oliver moved his other hand to wipe off her tears “come here” he beckoned her and pulled her against him so he could hug her as she started crying “come here” he repeated, almost as a whisper “it’s okay princess, I got you”

By the time Tommy and Thea went down to eat Felicity had stopped crying and was calmer. Oliver had asked her to think about the swimming lessons and she had promised to at least think about it

“Good morning!” she said as her brother joined them on the kitchen

“Good morning sis” Tommy said, kissing her head “how are you?”

“well, I’ve been better, but I’m okay” she said with a smile

“you sure?” she nodded and he kissed her again” you are not allowed to do something like that ever again okay? Don’t ever scare me like that! I can´t take it!” she smiled at him, there he was, the protective caring and loving big brother, she knew him, Tommy always wore his humor as a shield, but she knew enough to see past it

“I love you Tommy”

“Love you too little sis”

Tommy was finishing his breakfast when the phone of the house started ringing, and when Raisa came back to the kitchen, she called for Tommy

“Mr. Tommy, your father is at the phone, and he wants to talk to you” Tommy opened his eyes widely, he wanted to talk to him? Not Felicity? It was unbelievable

He got up from his seat and followed Raisa to Robert’s office, and, when Tommy, looked at the older woman, she answered the question that was in his eyes

“I thought you would want a private conversation with your father”

“Thank you Raisa” he said as he picked up the phone

“hello?”

“hello Tommy”

“hi dad” he said, with a cold voice

“I wanted to congratulate you for your graduation son, I’m very proud of you, I’ll admit, It moments I wasn’t sure you would make it, but, there you are”

“thanks dad” Tommy was still hoping Malcolm would say or ask something about Felicity

“I’m going to be here a few days more, but we will celebrate when I’m back home okay?”

“you... you’re not going to ask about Felicity?” he couldn’t control it anymore, this was absurd

“Moira said yesterday that she was fine, it was only a scare, did something change?” he asked

“she stopped breathing dad!! Do you understand that? Oliver had to”

“yes, Tommy I understand” Malcolm interrupted him “and what exactly do you want me to do?” his dad’s voice sounded tired, impatient, but no one was more tired of that situation that Tommy

“I want you to care!! She’s your daughter for God’s sake!”

“Tommy, you know that”

“don’t you dare give me that crap! God, mom would be so ashamed of you!!” with that he hung up the phone, he couldn’t stand t anymore.

For a few minutes he stood there, next to the phone, just looking at it with the same rage he felt towards his father in that moment, he was too angry with his dad to even move and he didn’t notice the door opening until he heard Moira’s voice

“are you okay darling?” Tommy turned to her with unshed tears in his eyes and shook his head

“no, I’m not okay…” he took a deep breath “Moira... I... I need you and Robert to make me a favor”

“what is it?” she asked, with concern in her eyes

“In a few weeks Oliver and I are going to college and I will try to come back as often as possible but... I just don’t want my sister to be alone all the time”

“oh Tommy, I’m sure Malcolm...”

“he doesn’t care, you know it as well as I do, she is my little sister, and she almost drowned yesterday and my father, doesn’t care. I can’t protect her from that if I’m away. But you can. I’d take her with me, but she need to finish her studies here “

“you don’t have to worry about that Tommy, we will make sure your sister is okay, you know we love her as a part of the family” in truth Moira was worried that Felicity would spend her days with a nanny the moment Oliver and Tommy went away to college

“I wish my dad would love her too” he sighed. At least now he knew that they would care for Felicity and the pit that was in his stomach was a little smaller

 

Two weeks later Oliver was sitting in his bed, just listening to some music when he heard a knock on his door

“Come on!” he said, feeling curious about who it would be. Thea was out with their mother shopping for her designs, Tommy had a date with some chick and his dad usually didn’t knock before entering a room

His doubts were answered when he saw a blonde head peaking at the door

“Hi Oliver!” Felicity said, opening the door a little more “can I?” Oliver sat up straighter on his bed and smiled

“Sure! What is it that you need my services Princess?” he pat the bed for her to sit beside him

“I uuhm...” Oliver could see that she was nervous, so he didn’t say anything, not wanting to pressure her, he waited for her “I wanted to know if... if your offer to teach me how to swim was still on?” she asked with half a voice

“of course, it’s still on Felicity!” he smiled widely, feeling so glad that she had decided to let him help

“well, then I think I’d like to take you up on that”

“of course!” he repeated, he had been thinking lately about asking her again, but it was a nice surprise for her to come ask. He could sense that she was very nervous, but he was happy

“Do you want to tart today?” that seemed to take her by surprise but after the first few seconds she nodded “Okay, so... let me change and I’ll see you by the pool ok?” she nodded again before she stood up and wet out the door

Oliver went to the bathroom to alleviate himself and freshen up a little and then went to his closet to change clothes into his trunks. He debated if he should call Tommy to tell him, but in the end, he thought that it would be better coming from Felicity.

Once he was changed he almost run down the stairs to meet her, anxious to start.

He found Felicity in one of her swimsuits, the navy blue one, near the pool. Oliver stopped to watch her a little. She was standing about three feet from it and her eyes were trying to look anywhere but at the water, her feet were moving like her impulse was to retreat but she didn’t want to, and her hands were twitching at her sides. He had known she was nervous, but this wasn’t that, it was fear, etched in every part of her body.  

Oliver sighed, this was going to be more difficult than he had anticipated.

“hey!” he said finally to make his presence known. The moment she heard him she straightened up and turned to face him. Oliver could see that she was trying to hide it, but her face was full of fear, he knew her too well not to know how she was feeling. He took a few steps towards the lounge area and nodded with his head for her o follow

“let’s sit for a minute okay?” Felicity nodded with her head vehemently, before she almost run to sit next to him, it was obvious she wanted to be farther from the water

For a moment he sat there, silent, not knowing how to approach the subject, but he decided it was better to rip off the band aid

“you’re afraid, aren’t you?” the question took Felicity by surprise “hey, it’s okay, you can tell me anything” she looked down “Felicity, I’m not going to judge you, I just... I need to know how much”

“I. I can’t shower normally” she said with her voice so low he almost didn’t hear her. He was shocked “I’ve been cleaning myself with wet towels and such and relying too much on dry shampoo, or if I wash my hair, I do it with a water spray, it takes me a lot of time but… the first time that I tried to stand under the shower I had a panic attack” Oliver’s heart broke with her words, how much had she gone through the last two weeks until she had dared to talk to him?

“does anyone know?”

“You mean Tommy? No, I haven’t told him, or Thea”

“Why not?”

“because he’d worry too much, and... I thought I would be able to handle this on my own, but.. it’s clear that that’s not the case...” she chuckled

“Felicity, maybe you should... go to a specialist, someone that could help you better than I could” he asked her, this was definitely more than he was prepared for

“I don’t want to make... a big thing of this, I understand if I’m asking you too much, but, I..”

“okay, okay” he interrupted her, he had the message, he needed to do this.

Oliver took a deep breath and took a moment to think, he had to do this right, she had chosen him to help her and he had to do it, as much as he could. He was no psychologist but he knew it would be in vain if he tried to get her on the water that day she was too scared for that, and he didn’t want to trigger a panic attack

“okay... let’s do this step by step...” he said after a few minutes “I’m not going to ask you to jump in the pool I don’t want you to have a panic attack or something like that, so we’re just going to walk to the pool ok? And we’ll take it as slow as you need to ok?” she nodded shyly, but with a little smile

They stood and started walking towards the pool, they were like for steps away when Felicity’s breathing started quickening, so Oliver stopped walking and started talking in a soothing voice

“It’s okay Felicity, I’m right here okay? We’re not going into the water and nobody is going to push you or anything okay? We’re just walking in the backyard” he felt how she took his hand and hold it tightly “You’re safe Princess, just breathe with me, In and Out, In and out” he continued talking until her breathing normalized.

They stopped three more times before reaching the pool.

That day, she could only stand by the pool, with Oliver at her side

Three days later, she sat with her feet in the water

A week later, she had the water by her waist

Two weeks later, Oliver was teaching her how to swim

 

 


	19. Listen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys go to college

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO SO SO SORRy  
> I know, I'm always late, I know, ( and to add to that this chapter is so short) but this past months had been crazy! my work didn't leave me any time to write or practically do anything, I found, the most wonderful person in the world and had the luck that he wants to be with me, but my time got more limited and then, just when I had my time and my muse in order, my computer broke... so i'm writing this from my boyfriend's computer, I'm sorry, really, I never intended to take so long to update, the "good" news is that i have next chapter almost finished, and I'm not working in that Hell anymore, so I hope it will only be a few days, two weeks top till I update again. sorry, so so sorry.

Tommy closed the trunk of his car with a sigh, everything was ready. Oliver and he were going to move to college.  They had even decided to do the trip by car, it would be several hours, and with the stops the trip would take them nearly two days, but they were excited for their road trip. To visit they would probably take a plane or a train.

he knew he should be more excited about starting that new chapter of his life, and he was, college meant a lot of responsibilities , but it also meant independence and freedom, for him it meant being away from his father and his.. everything, malcolm was a tough man... so he knew that going away was a good thing for him.

but it also meant leave Felicity behind, and that was a little terryfying, to be honest. Tomy knew that his sister was a strong girl, weeks ago she had told him how Oliver had been teaching her to swim, and he had felt so proud of her, he had even heplped with the lessosns from that moment, and she had been amazing. but he was afraid for her. he feared that with him gone felicity would drown into her computers and her studies he knew she had Thea and the Queens, but even if the Queens loved her, it wouldn't be the same.

when he turned around, he saw her, Felicity was sitting on the steps at the front of the house, holding her knees with her arms and looking at him with her big sad blue eyes.

"hey there" Tommy said, walking the distance between them and sitting down on the steps next to her

"hi" Felicity`s voice was as sad as her eyes

"come on sis! i need you with me on this, because if not, I won't be able to leave"

"I know you have to leave Tommy, and you know that I am proud of you for going to college, but.. I .. i just don't want to be alone with dad"

"you are not going to be alone! you have the Queens, you know they love you, and I'm sure they will be with you when you need them"

"yeah, but it's not the same, I'll miss you" His little sister had just voice his fears, and he put his arm around her and pressed her to him

"you won't have time to miss me, I'll call all the time and visit everytime I can, you know that" Her face showed a little smile and that was enough for him at the moment, he would miss her like crazy, but it was something that he had to do for the both of them "come on, help me pick up the last things from my room"

meanwhile Oliver opened the door of his house to found the last person he expected to find

Tommy and Felicity were in the Queen`s door roughly 40 minutes later, with all packed and ready

 "hey there!"Oliver opened the door with a wide smile, hugged Tommy and then Felicity, his enthusiasm very visible "everything ready roomie?" he asked, looking at his friend

"yeah, everythings ready, what about you?"

"I'm ready too, my little sister on the other hand doesn't seem to ready for me to move out" he said with a sigh. In that sigh Tommy knew that his friend was going through prtty much the same that he had with Felicity. to his surprise it was the blonde girl who talked first

"I'll talk to her" without waiting for an answer she went to Thea's room, under the eyes of their older brothers

Felicity opened the door to Thea's room without knocking, and found her friend sitting on the middle of her bed, with her head on her arms that were resting above her knees

"hey" she said with half a smile" sitting next to thea

"hey" Thea said without looking up

"you have to get out of here you know? they'll be leaving in a few moments"

"I know" she sighed, so much as his brother " I was just... assmiliating I suppose" Felicity smiled a little "how can you be so calmed? for me, it's just my brother that's going away, and.. well, another brother, but for you... we both know that Oliver is more than that" Felicity's smile faded a little for a second to be remplaced for another a lot more of contempt

"well, maybe this is my chance to forget your brother, because let's face it, he`ll never see me as anymore than a little sister, so.. yeah, I`m sad they're going away, but I'm trying to be happy for them"

"you're stronger than I am"

"it's not hard Thea, i just... come down, and you'll see it for yourself, look at their faces and you'll know" her friend sighed again but then nodded with her head and started to get up from the bed

when they came back down, it happened just as Felicity had told her, as soon as thea saw their brothers faces and the eagerness that she found there, she knew that she should be happy for them. this was something good for them and they had work a lot for it, so she owed them to be happy for them.

A little later Oliver and Tommy were in Tommy's car and on their way toharvard as their sisters and oliver's parents waved them goodbye from the front door. 

\------

It had been three months since Tommy and Oliver had started college and for them things couldn't been better, sure, the classes were hard and they were studying more than they never thought they would, but life was good in Boston, they had made a small group of friends and were enjoying the freedom of living by themselves

Oliver was opening the door to their little apartment and found that Tommy was already leaving

"hey! where are you going?" he asked, pretty sure that he already knew the answer

"I'm meeting Laura at java's" his friend answered with the same smile he always had when talking about the brunette "wanna come?"

"no thanks" Oliver smiled "I just came from the gym I just want to lay on the couch and watch some tv"

"ok, see you later then!" Tommy closed the door behind him and just as he had told him, after picking a beer from the fridge Oliver laid on the couch and turned on the Tv.

Tommy had started seeing laura about two weeks ago, she was in one of their classes and Tommy had asked her to help them with economics, that had been the first time that Oliver had seen his friend crushing on someone so fast, that first day, as the had gone back to the apartment Tommy had been unable to stop talking about the girl.

Oliver on his part had met some girls, and even tried to date one of them, but it went south the moment he realize that he didn't want soemthing serious but she did, so they parted ways.

Not five minutes had passed when he heard the door bell ring, so he got up thinking Tommy had forgotten something

"hey man what did you..." but the words died on his lips as he saw who was waiting on the other side of the door, moment when his face change completely

"what are you doing here?"

 

**Three months ago**

 

_Oliver opened the door of his house, hoping to see Tommy and felicity, but instead, he found Laurel standing there_

_"HI" she said with a smile_

_"what do you want Laurel?" Oliver asked coldly_

_"aren't you going to invite me in?"_

_"Nope" he said, leaning on the door frame_

_"ok...,I think that we need to talk Oliver it's been a long time"_

_"for what?"_

_"for you to forgive me!" Laurel upped her tone a little "I know I made a mistake, but I think that I learned my lesson and I don't want us to still be apart just for one silly mis"_

_"silly?" oliver scoffed, interrupting her " there was nothing silly about what you did Laurel"_

_" oh come on, Ollie! Nothing happened!"_

_"how can you say that when I had to.." oliver shook his head trying to get the image of Felicity uncoiscious, unbreathing.. of his head "this is why we don't have anything to talk about Laurel, because you still can't understand it!" he answered angrily_

_"Oliver dear what is happening here?" Moira asked as she descended the staris of the house, alerted by her sons' voice and came to stand beside him_

_"Nothing mom, Laurel was already leaving" he said to his mother, much more calm " bye laurel" Oliver closed the door before his ex could reply to him, and turned away from the door._


	20. Help

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> who was at the door?? and more

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There you go!!! a new chapter, i don't know if you'll like it, but, I think it was neccesary a chapter that filled some empty spaces for the future. As always a big, huge thank you for all yoir comemnts, kudos and support, it means a lot for me!!!

“I came to talk to you” Laurel said with half a smile

“I don’t think we have anything to talk about anymore”

“Oh come on, Ollie!”

“I told you everything I had to said last time Laurel”

“But I didn’t! you closed the door without letting me talk!”

“and even then you thought it was a good idea to come here? I closed that door because I didn't want to hear you! I’m getting really tired of this” he said with a sigh as he ran his hand over his face and hair

“That’s because it’s absurd that we are still apart Oliver!” she exclaimed, her tone a little higher “I said sorry and that girl was fine after all, what is separating us?” Oliver scoffed loudly, the three months he had spent with a terrified Felicity just by being near a pool deferred a bit from fine

“You don’t fucking understand it Laurel”

“what?”

“that I don’t love you anymore! fuck, right now, I don’t even like you! can’t you understand that? what you did, killed everything between us!! you may think it’s ok, because Felicity didn’t die, but it’s not! even if it wasn’t with that purpose, what you did, could’ve killed her, a 13 year old, just because you were jealous, and you don’t even care! I don’t want to say this anymore, but I will, one last time, so listen properly, there will never, ever, be a chance that we get back together. it’s not gonna happen ok?”

“you can’t say that”

“yes I can, I don’t even want to see you ever again, I loved you Laurel, I really did, but then you became someone I couldn’t recognize. I’m so angry at you still, and you don’t even see it. I can’t forgive you, I never will, so for the last time Laurel, don’t call me, don’t visit me.. It’s over”

He closed the door and although he knew that Laurel didn’t leave for several minutes he just didn’t care anymore.

He went to sit down again and tried to relax, and focus on the tv, but he was too tense, he couldn’t relax, so he did the one thing that always made him smile

“hello?” she answered in the second tone and, as he suspected, he smiled

“Hey Speedy! How are you?”

“Hi big brother! I’m pretty good, how are things over there? how’s college?”

“good, things are good here”

“you know that you actually have to go to class and study right? not only go to parties and get drunk”

“You are 13 Thea, you shouldn't be talking or even know about that”

“yeah, sure” she snickered “when are you coming home?”

“well, he stopped to think “Thanksgiving is in two weeks so we’ll be there for that” he said, looking at the calendar in the wall

“oh right, I didn’t remember that”

They talked for a few minutes, but Oliver was starting to think that Thea was hiding something

“Is something wrong Speedy? are you ok?”

“what? no, I’m Ok”

“Thea…” he knew his sister. Finally, she sighed

“It’s.. it’s Felicity. I’m worried about her”  

“why? Tommy talked to her yesterday, and everything seemed fine”

“well, she maybe kind of.. lied to him. She doesn’t want to worry Tommy”

“Worry him about what?”

“It’s her dad” Thea sighed again “he’s being a little mean with her Oliver”

“What do you mean with that?” he asked her

“He yells, all the time… and whatever happens in their house, it ends up being her fault. You know that type of thing”

“I don’t really understand, what is her fault?”

“I don’t know they are silly things.. It’s like.. the other day, Mary, the housekeeper dropped something on Malcolm’s bedroom, and he assumed that it had been Felicity in his room and went nuts, he started yelling at her … “

“And how is Felicity coping with that?”

“she’s.. not. She’s always in her computed room, and it’s like she loses track of the days. Last week she missed classes because she didn’t know what day it was. Sometimes I get her out but..”Oliver frowned, that wasn’t good

“How long has this been going on?”

“It started when you and Tommy left but it’s getting much worse”

“she should’ve told Tommy” Oliver shook his head they both called their sisters twice a week and Felicity never said a word about what was going on at home

“I told you! she doesn’t want to worry him, she wants him to focus on his studies, and such”

“Ok… ok… don’t worry Speedy I’ll see what I can do” Thea sighed once again

“Felicity is going to kill me”

“No, she’s not, you are best friends and you are worried about her, you did the right thing Thea, she’ll know that you did it for her own good”

“I really hope you're right Oliver”

Half an hour later Oliver was in the cafeteria where Tommy had told him he would be with Laura. He spotted them in one of the corner's tables, talking as if there wasn't anyone else around them. He took a deep breath and went to them. He was two steps away when his friend noticed his presence and welcomed him with a wide smile

“hey! I thought you weren't coming! What made you change your mind?” Tommy pointed to a chair next to him and Oliver obliged.

“hello Tommy Hi Laura!” he said with a nod towards her

“hi Oliver” she answered with a smile

“I.. talked to Thea today” he said, looking at Tommy again

“How's Speedy?”

“Good, she's good.. look, she told me something and I didn't want to come here to tell you, but I didn't want to wait till you get home either...”

“what is it?” Tommy frowned, and Oliver saw Laura taking his hand

“She is worried about Felicity”

“Felicity? What.. I talked to her yersterday ..” Oliver took a deep breath before he started talking

“Apparently she's been lying to you Tommy, at least that's what Thea said to me, she said that her relationship with your dad it's getting worse everyday, they've been fighting a lot an your sister is not dealing with it very well, Thea said..”

“that she's always in her computer room” Tommy finished for him

“you knew?” Oliver asked, confused

“No, but I know my sister, and that always has been her scape route since she fixed my mom's computer, specially when she wants to run from my dad” Tommy ran his hands over his face “how bad is it?”

“she's missed some classes, cause she lost track of the day it was”he answered truthfully

“Oh God...” Tommy sighed

“I thought you should know it”

“yeah, thanks for telling me man,.. “Tommy said amd then, looked at his girl “I think we're going to have to cancel our weekend plans... I'm sorry”

“Don't be, I know how imporant your sister is for you, so don't worry about our weekend, she is more important, and she clearly needs her brother” Tommy pecked her lips with a little smile and looked again at Oliver

“You coming?” he asked, althouh he already knew the answer

“I already packed our bags and got tickets for tomorrow, I prepped everything so we can go tomorrow first thing in the morning”

“I'll take care of your classes and you'll have eveythig you need when you get back” Laura added. Tommy smiled again.

Next day after a few hours of traveling they were arriving to their home city

“Have you told your parents we're coming?”

“No, they would've told Thea, and she would've told Felicity, so it's going to be a surprise for everyone”

“Thank you for coming with me man”

“NO need to thank me, she's family” Oliver smiled and, knowing that his friend was worrying tried to change the subject “Hey, how are things with Laura?” Tommy smiled

“Good, they're .. pretty good, she's amazing man, she's beautiful of course, but she's also smart, and witty and funny”

“You like her a lot don't you?”

“Can I be honest with you?” Oliver nodded “I love her” His friend's eyes went wide “I know, I know it's too soon for that but what can I say, it's how I feel”·

“Have you told her?” Tommy shook his head

“As I said, it's too fucking soon for that and I don't want to scare her away so.. nope”

“well, you have to do it on your own time but, for what it's worth, I've seen the way she looks at you and and I don't think that she'd ran away if you told her”

“we'll see” he sighed “what about you?”

“I'm still dealing with the last psyco right now.. I'm good on my own”

“what do you mean the last Psyco? As far as I know, Mandy and you ended things prrety well, considering.. any psicopath that I don't know about?”

“I'm afraid not”

“What? I don't understand” Tommy said, frowning

“I saw Laurel yesterday”

“What? Where?”

“she showed up at the apartment” Oliver sighed

“That bitch went to our apartment? why?”

“because she is delusional and thinks, or thought, that I was coming back with her”

“after all this time?”

“well, she tried to talk to me the day we left Starling, but, as I did yesterday, I closed the door on her face”

“You haven't told me that”

“Yeah well, it didn't matter, so what was the point, “he shrugged “she can try as many times as she wants, nothing is going to change, but I hope that I don't see her in a loong long time”

“I know that maybe I should be sorry that you broke your relationship with your girlfriend because of something that happened with my sister, but the truth is.. I'm not sorry, I'll be glad If I never see her again”

“You don't have to be sorry, Tommy, cause I'm not. Things between us weren't good for a long time and I probably should've broken with her months before. I kept klinging to the hope that she'd be the Laurel that I thought I met and loved all those years ago, that things would be better again, but what she did.. there is no turning back”

when they arrived to the Merlyn manor, it was past time that Felicity was back home from school, so they went straight to where they knew they would find her

Tommy knocked on the closed door, and after a few seconds they heard her voice

“coming!” a few more seconds and she opened the door

“Tommy!Oliver!” she smiled widely and hugged her brother “what are you doing here? I thought you were coming to thanksgiving!” Tommy frowned

“what do you mean? Felicity, Thanksgiving is tomorrow..” Feliciy fell back a little, watching the seriousness in her brother's face

“what? no.. how..really?” they could see she was so confused, and it served Tommy to confirm how bad things were if she really was not sure of the day she was living. Felicity was very pale, and skinnier than before and there were dark circles under the eyes of the fourteen years old...no wonder Thea was worried about her

“let's sit ok?” Oliver said, leading them to the living room couch, Felicity didn't say a thing, as she aparently went through the days in her head

“Hey, Felicity, listen, it's not thanksgiivng yet ok, it's two weeks from now” Tommy said, and when he saw that she was going to reply, he started again “but I needed to know how bad this thing was, and you weren't able to assure me of the day it was,,, you thought it could be possible for thanksgiving to be tomorrow!”he said, his voice laced with worry

“No.. I... I didn't”

“Felicity... stop lying, please”His little sister sighed loudly

“how did you know?” she asked,

“Thea told me,”

“she shouldn't have, I have it under control”

“that is clearly not true princess... you've been spending too much time on that room, she was worried about you Felicity” Oliver said to her “ we all are”

“I'm fine!”

“Felicity, look at me” Tommy said, more serious than before “You are not fine, you are pale, you've lost weight too so you're not eating properly,and you have dark circles under your eyes, so you are not sleeping good either”

“I've been having nightmares, so..”

“why didn't you tell me?”

“You are at college, you have more important things to worry about that me losing a little sleep”

“you are the most important thing in my life Felicity! Please, tell me what is going on”

“dad and I... we're not getting along since you are gone, I was tired f fighting with him, so it was easier to just be in the computer room and be away from him” she shrugged, and in that moment, Tommy saw his sister as what she was, a little girl that felt alone, Felicity was so smart that he often forgot how young she was. He hugged her to him, and she inmediately put her arms around him

“I can understand that sis, I really can,but you cannot do this to yourself, you have to sleep, eat, and go to school, I understand that dad is a tough person to be around, and that is hard for you since I'm away, but you have to be strong, don't let him get you down Felicity, he's not worth it”

“I have an idea”Oliver said, with a smile drawing the attention of the siblings “why don't you come with us for the weekend? We can show you the campus and everything, we can even bring Thea with us”

As soon as Oliver said it, Tommy could see the smile that formed in the girl's face, and that convinced him that it would be a good thing for his sister

“what about dad?

“don't worry about him, I'll handle it”Tommy smiled looking at her “go to your room and pick up what you can need in these days ok?” she nodded with her head and got up and in her way to her room, so Tommy looked at Oliver “you really did have a great idea... you saw how pale she is?”

“these days will do her some good, you'll see”

“I'm going to see if dad is in his office and I'll try to talk with him, you help her get in the car?”

“sure”Oliver nodded and with that Tommy turned and went into his dad's office, it was no surprise to see that he wasn't there, so he called his phone

“Tommy, how's it going in Boston?” Malcolm answer quickly

“Well, I'm in Starling right now”

“what? You didn't tell me you were coming to visit”

“I know, it was more of a improvisized trip, I came to see Felicity”

“what?” he could hear he was confused in his voice

“Dad, I'm taking Felicity for the weekend”

“Your sister has to study hard and”Tommy interrupted

“Cut the crap okay? Have you even seen her lately? She's pale, and so skinny, she isn't sleeping either, but of course you re too busy yelling at her to notice”

“I don't know what that brat told you Tommy but”

“don't you dare turn his on her dad, don't you dare! This is on you, she is just a child” Tommy took a deep breath “Anyway, I didn't call you to ask for permission, just to tell you, she'll be back in a few days”

30 minutes later they were in the Queen's house picking up Thea. And although at first Moira was a little reluctant, when she saw how Felicity was, she agreed to let Thea go on the trip

“take care of her ok?” she asked her son with worried eyes

Not five minutes had passes since they had took their seats on the plane when Tommy noticed with a smile that Felicity was already asleep.

  
  


 


End file.
